Category Archives: Stairs

Catching Up

April 17, 2013 Kim 21 Comments

Today my 43 ended up being my work-out, too. I decided to use our stairs to really work my legs. I went up the stairs sideways skipping every other step:

On the way down, I stayed sideways but didn’t skip steps.

Because I didn’t want one leg to get more work (or be stronger!!), I did 2 sets of 43 – one leading with my right leg (left leg pushing off) and the other leading with my left leg (right leg pushing off).

The move is like a sideways squat (just on an uneven surface) and it took 7 “squats” for each trip up the stairs so I did 301 “squats” with each leg!!! Not too shabby – plus I kept the pace pretty quick so I got my heart rate up!!

Then I decided to try a plank hold on my elbows instead of with my arms extended. For some reason, this one was harder – 3:30 today.

Since getting home yesterday around noon, I feel like I have been going non-stop and today is jam-packed!!

Last night Hunter played in the district string fest – 6th, 8th and high school orchestras.It was pretty cool to hear the difference a few years can make! Plus the 6th graders are from 6 different schools in the district and only had 1 practice all together – pretty impressive!!!

[youtuber youtube=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Rh1DF4duNg’]

The finale was God Bless America (love that song!!) and all of the orchestras played together on it – I just recorded part of it since it was long.

I missed a lot over the weekend with the sleepover and all but thankfully Chris took some pictures of the cake making and birthday celebrating!!Looks like fun was had by Jordan during the afternoon and Hunter and his pals that evening!!

Now I’m off to tackle a mile-long to-do list which includes a dentist appointment, DR appointment, afternoon spent subbing PE…….

Happy Wednesday!!

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

Calves, Fitness, Running, Stairs, Treadmill

Pure Joy

February 19, 2013 Kim 5 Comments

Today’s 43 worked a muscle group that I rarely spend much time on – my calves. I guess I just assume that running and plyo work is enough for them. (Weird, cause I use to always add in calf work.)

Anyway – I did calf raises on my bottom step (on a separate note – I really need to vacuum the stairs!). I held 15 pound dumbbells for added weight and tried to work all angles of my calves. I did a set of 43 just straight up and down:

I really tried to focus on holding not just the drop portion but the raised portion of each rep.

up - this is the real work! — up – this is the real work!

Then I turned my toes out for a set of 43.

A third set of 43 with my toes in.

Then I thought I might as well go ahead and really work my calves to fatigue by doing each leg by separately. (For these, I held one 15 pound dumbbell in the hand on the same side as the leg I was working.)

43 on the left leg.

Final 43 on the right leg.

Yikes!! I really should start doing these more often. I think it would help my problem Achilles a lot!! The hold at the top of each rep is where the true burn comes in!!

Today was a Les Mills Combat day – HIIT Power. 30 minutes of high intensity strength and plyo moves. There was a brief moment during the last segment where I questioned why I was putting myself through such ~~torture~~ ~~pain~~ an intense work-out. Then I remembered – I LOVE IT!!!!

Since the work-out was short, I decided to get in some extra cardio – Hello, treadmill!!!

Today was maybe the best run I’ve had since sometime last summer. Not because of the speed or distance – it just felt so great!! I felt like I was running simply because I LOVE it.

Such a great feeling!! I ran 6 miles (41:38) and then did and easy 1.5 to finish an hour of running. I don’t know what was different today but I will take it – Pure, 100% joy from the run!!!This babies expression sums it up beautifully!!!

Happy Tuesday – I hope your day has a great deal of true joy!!!

Kim

Fitness, Pull-Ups, Stairs

Hooray for 4-Day Weekends!!!

October 18, 2012 Kim

It is parent/teacher conference time so the boys are out of school today and tomorrow – Yippee!!! I figured since they were home, they could be part of my 43!!

Today I decided to let my 43 be my only work-out so I wanted to do something that I felt like gave me a little toning and a little cardio. I decided to make loops through the house. I started at the bottom of one staircase, walked up (14 steps), walked through to the other staircase (about 18-19 steps), down the steps (14 steps) then through to return to base of first set of steps (23-24 steps). After each loop I jumped up and did a mini pull-up on this fun bar:

It was a nice 43/work-out for an easy day. The boys each did their age in loops, too.

Look how tall he is!!! He did his loops much faster but I did have 30 more than him! :Wink:

Hunter really raced through his. I think he was disappointed when he realized that I was adding in the pull-up each time and he hadn’t done that part – maybe he will do some pull-ups later.

Now we are ready to do enjoy our day!!!

Kim

Stairs

Use What You Have

September 20, 2012 Kim

Today I have a lot to get done so I decided to make my 43 a complete work-out. (I did add in 2 10 minute speed walks with a friend for fun.)

I decided to use my stairs as a work-out!!

I went up the stairs 43 times, skipping every other step and then went down using every step. I felt it in my quads and glutes and also got my heart rate up!!

I haven’t posted any times but I thought it might be fun share them on work-outs like this. Then, if any of y’all are doing your own 43 you could share your times as well.

On to the rest of the day!!

Kim

Day With KT