Butt, Fitness, Hamstrings, Recovery, Treadmill

A Life of Moderation or a Life of Extremes – Can the 2 Combine??

March 26, 2013 Kim 25 Comments

Today I used a simple little band for my 43.

This band is fairly small and provides a lot of resistance. ( Note: you could do the move without a band.) I started with the band around one ankle and the bottom of my other shoe:

(Check out my super cute running skirt!! MizFit workout skirt – check it out here.)

From this position, I pushed my foot straight back (it’s not a big move) and then brought it back to the start.

After 43 of the back-push move, I did another set of 43 where I flexed my leg down (without touching the ground) and back up.

push leg down (don't touch ground) — push leg down (don’t touch ground)

These moves may look like nothing but if you squeeze your butt as you do both of them, you will feel it for sure!

Of course, I don’t want my hamstrings or butt to be lopsided so I had to repeat both of the 43s on the other leg. I think the second leg is always harder because it is already a little fatigued from supporting you while you work the first side.

Today was a running day for a couple of reasons: it’s been a few days since my last run and that’s about the only thing I can do because my arms HURT!!!! I’m not sure who thought doing thousands of jumping jacks was a good idea!! Moving my arms to run was OK once I got started but lifting my arms to the side or over my head – painful. I had no idea that jumping jacks could do that to a person – maybe it is because I’m an idiot and did 4,300!!!

Anyway – I ran on my treadmill (I don’t run in snow, you know) at a 1.5% incline – 8 miles (52:17) and then 2.5 more miles much easier for a total of 85:00 minutes.

Moderation can apply to so many things and areas of our lives. We all know that I like wine and cosmos and… but I do try to always use moderation in that part of my life.Potato chips – ummm…..hard to have moderation here! (I have to just not buy them!!!)

What about other areas of life (not just food/beverages)? Is moderation important?

In a lot of ways, I’m an all-or-nothing person. I know that isn’t always for the best but

I don’t really think that (all the time)! Some days I need to work on moderation (like when I have a stupid idea to do 4,300 jumping jacks!!!) but other days I kind of like extremes!

What are you – moderate, extreme, mixture of both, neither?

Happy Tuesday!!

Kim

Cardio, Fitness

Jumping Jack Palooza

March 25, 2013 Kim 20 Comments

Today for my 43 I did jumping jacks. However, I thought (rather stupidly) that 43 jumping jacks wasn’t enough. So I turned it into my own little jumping jack party (or palooza!!).

I did 43 sets of 100 jumping jacks!!! That would be 4,300 jumping jacks!!!!

I feel quite sure that tomorrow I won’t be able to raise my arms above my head and my upper back will be sore!!! (I touched my hands at the top – straight arms – on each and every one!)

I know that some people think jumping jacks aren’t a real workout or that they are just part of the warm-up – but I’m here to tell you – they would be wrong!!!! This was no joke!!!

This may be TMI but the worst part of all those jumping jacks?? – I thought I was going to totally pee myself! (glad running doesn’t do that to me!!)

Chris was off Friday and we decided to get a dehydrator. I just got an inexpensive one (plus, it was at Bed Bath and Beyond so I had a coupon!!) to try it out.

Yesterday I used it for the first time – squash and zucchini chips. Super easy – slice the veggies and put them on the trays.

I sprinkled them with just a very small amount of seasoning salt and then let them dry for about 8 hours.

They made nice little chips!!! Much healthier than my regular potato chips!!! The only downside – 2 zucchini and 3 squash only made this much:

Better make some more!!! I think this will be a great way to wean myself off of potato chips!!! Gonna try out some mangos today.

Happy Monday!!!

Kim

Butt, Cardio, Circuit, Core, Fitness, Push-Ups

Sunday Morning Killer Circuit

March 24, 2013 Kim 12 Comments

Today I decided to do a circuit for my 43. I wanted to get some toning, cardio, plyo – basically some of everything in one quick round (well actually 43 rounds!). Looking at the circuit you might think it is no big deal – try a few!!!

The first 10 or so weren’t terrible – but the last 10 were brutal!!! A tough 43 for sure!!!

[youtuber youtube=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8MA0zujPxHA’]

I think part of the challenge came from the fact that I kept going from floor moves to standing – constant up and down. It was a good workout for sure!!!

I’m not sure what is going on with Phil the groundhog – I think he was a little off this year.

On a happy note – I finally figured out how to make a picture collage!!! Thanks to Lindsay at The Lean Green Bean for sharing her favorite 30 Apps for the iPhone the other day – I learned about Diptic!!

Even though my Grandmother is no longer here, today would be her birthday – Happy Birthday, Mema!! I miss you every day!!!

(My Mema never looked at the camera – only at the people in the picture with her!)

Happy Sunday!!

Kim

Cardio, Fitness, Running, Treadmill

Running a Pyramid

March 23, 2013 Kim 9 Comments

Today’s 43 was quick and fun!!! I did a straddle jump on a bench. Start by straddling the bench with your hands on the front of the bench. Jump both feet up on bench then back to floor. Repeat (x 43).

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

This is one of my favorites!!! I think I will do more of these jumps soon!

For my run today I did a pyramid!

OK – not that pyramid but it sort-of felt like it on the way up!!!

You can see that I increased my speed every 2 minutes (until I finally got to the top!) and then I decreased every two minutes on the way back down – much better!!!

This was fun and different for me – I usually try to get my fastest miles at the end of my run instead of during the middle so this is a good change.

1.5 % incline – 44:11 = 7 miles + cool down of 20 minutes for a total of 64 minutes (8.4 total miles)

I like to do different things with my speed (or incline) while I run – probably why I don’t get bored on my treadmill very often!!!

I can’t believe how fast spring break has gone!! Even though we just stayed home, we had a great week together!!!

This weekend, we are all about basketball!! My bracket took several hard hits but I still have a chance to win and it’s fun to watch some of the underdogs do really well!!!

Happy Saturday!

Kim

Core, Fitness, Plank

Abdominal Training Epiphany!!!

March 22, 2013 Kim 12 Comments

My 43 today was nice – it was core work but also a semi-stretch!!! I used a stability ball to hold plank on my forearms.

From the start position, I just did a plank roll – I rolled forward on the ball (you have to hold your abs in tight here so that they don’t rest on the ball!)

pull the abs in - don't cheat! — pull the abs in – don’t cheat!

and then back on the ball for each rep.

The biggest challenge in this 43 was keeping my balance on the ball while staying in plank. I tried to keep my body level (feet a little wider helps!).

Today I did a Boot Camp workout for the rest of my workout. I used one of the 10 Minute Solution DVDs (love these) – Ultimate Boot Camp and did all 5 sections for a really great workout.

If you have never tried any of the 10 Minute Solution DVDs, I highly recommend them. They are great if you just have 20-30 minutes since you can do a couple of the sections. I also like them as a complete workout – all 5 sections.

The 5th (and final) section today was Six Pack Ab Attack. Because I was tired by that point I had to really focus on putting 100% into it. Then I started thinking about all of my ab/core work. It is at the end of my workout usually. I can’t think of a single workout DVD that I’ve done that has ab work at the beginning (or even during the middle) – always the end.

As I struggled (no other word today) through the ab training I decided that I’m going to try mixing up my ab work some and putting it at the beginning of a workout when I’m fresh! I did a little research about why abdominal work is usually at the end of the workout – the biggest reason seems to be the fact that so many exercises require you to use your core and if you have already trained your abs then you might not be able to perform the exercise safely.

But, I’m still planning to try and change it up some. I’m always exhausted by the time I really focus on my abs so I want to see if it makes a difference training them first.