Fitness, Push-Ups

Do You Work Harder When Someone Is Watching You?

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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.

ready
ready
down
down

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.

Screen Shot 2014-01-29 at 6.39.17 AM

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!!!

Screen Shot 2014-01-29 at 6.45.48 AM

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!!!

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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).

Screen Shot 2014-01-28 at 6.56.35 AMToday 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

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

squat
squat
lift right leg behind
lift right leg behind
squat again
squat again
lift left leg behind
lift left leg behind

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!!!

Screen Shot 2014-01-27 at 6.52.47 AM

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.

Screen Shot 2014-01-27 at 6.51.25 AMThis 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.

Screen Shot 2014-01-27 at 6.53.23 AMI 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 Screen Shot 2014-01-27 at 7.11.55 AM

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

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!!!

Screen Shot 2014-01-26 at 9.24.29 AMI 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.

DSCN0134The 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.

DSCN0136You 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!!!

our booth
our booth

Are you a people watcher?

Happy Sunday!!!  

Kim

 

 

Core, Fitness

How Do You Manage the Spam?

51 Comments

Today for my 44 I took a move that I’ve done on the floor (plank rolls) and added a stability ball to make it a little more challenging.  A plank roll is just holding plank and rolling your feet so your head goes forward and back.

And for some reason this morning I guess I thought I had reverse aged because I got to 40 and stopped.  Oops – good thing I realized it in time to fix it and do all 44 reps!!

I did one of my 10 Minute Solution DVDs – Ultimate Boot Camp.  By doing all 5 sections it ended up being a good full body workout in under an hour!!

Screen Shot 2014-01-25 at 7.38.54 AMOh, wait – wrong kind of SPAM!!!

Screen Shot 2014-01-25 at 7.40.34 AMDo you ever feel like  Spam is completely out of control?!  The email spam is one thing but thankfully most of it goes right into my junk folder and I never even see it.

However, the SPAM on my blog is Screen Shot 2014-01-25 at 7.42.31 AM

I have Akismet which keeps most of it from ever getting onto the actual site so that’s good. 

But, I still have a problem – I try to check it and empty it several times a day but the number of spam messages is easily over 1,000 a day.  

Here is my problem – I try to go through because I know every once in awhile a comment that isn’t spam ends up in there and I hate to delete anything that someone legitimately took the time to write.  At the same time I feel like I’m spending a LOT of time going through it every day!!!

How do you deal with spam?  Do you scroll through all of it before you empty it?

Happy Saturday – I’m off to spend the day with a bunch of brides!!!

Kim

 

 

Fitness – Food – Fun