Tag Archives: agility ladder

Witty Wednesday – Clear the Stress!!!

December 11, 2013 Kim 75 Comments

Today’s 44 was another push-up variation. I used my agility ladder and did wide push-ups with my fingers pointed out to the side (amazing how that hand position changes the whole move!).

These are hard but I can tell that I am getting stronger because I only had to take 2 quick stretch breaks to complete all 44.

Power Legs was my workout today (Insanity the Asylum vol. 2) and it is a challenge!!! 55 minutes of lower body work – plenty of cardio + strength work!! One of the moves really tested my mental coordination this morning – I struggled to get the arms and legs right especially when we had to move backwards!!!

Based on all of my blog reading lately and my own experiences – I think lots of us are a little/lot stressed right now!!! So, I thought it would be fun to do some riddles again! (I will share the answers tomorrow.)

1. Some use me better than others, even though everyone gets the same. If you lose me, it might be stressful, for I can’t be found or reclaimed. What am I?

2. When I am filled, I can point the way.
When I am empty, nothing moves me.
What am I?

3. Why are 2007 pennies worth more than 2006 pennies?

4. What happened in 1961 and will not happen again until 6009?

5. Before Mount Everest was discovered, what was the highest mountain in the world?

6. How can you use the letters in NEW DOOR to make one word?

Bonus: Use all 26 letters of the English alphabet to complete the following 13 words, but use each letter only once.

b a _ _ a i n
l _ _ g e r
d y _ _ s t y
_ _ g o t e
s a _ _ a t i o n
d i _ _ p a n
p u m _ _ i n
d e _ _ a y
b o _ _ a r
d i _ _ i t
s u n _ _ r n
o b l _ _ u e
l i _ _ o f f

Do you like riddles?
How many did you solve today?

Happy Wednesday!!!

Kim

Butt, Cardio, Fitness, Running, Squats, Treadmill

Let’s Hope that Tuesday Is Better than Monday!!!

December 10, 2013 Kim 69 Comments

Today for my 44 I did a move using my agility ladder – squat-hop-squat. This move is fun because squats are always “fun” but also because of the cardio benefit and the agility work from the ladder.

I counted a rep as a squat-hop-squat each way (so you end where you start).

Then I did the Insanity the Asylum vol.2 workout that I think is the hardest (at least so far) – Upper Elite. The number of reps in this workout are killer – plus all of the push-ups!!! Once again, I had to drop to my knees for some of the push-ups – sort of frustrating but I figure it is better to use good form and full range of motion than to stay on my toes. Plus, all the girls on the DVD end up on their knees so I don’t feel as lame!!!

Yesterday wasn’t a great day! By 10 (AM) I was pretty much over the entire day and the next hour only got worse.

So, I did what pretty much anyone would do in that type of situation. I hopped on my treadmill and pounded out a fast 5 miles!!!

If I can't be on the beach then I'm pretty happy here!! — If I can’t be on the beach then I’m pretty happy here!!

That helped some but mostly I was glad when the day ended especially because about an hour before I went to bed my tooth (maybe it’s multiple teeth – can’t tell) started hurting a LOT again!!! Even with some pain meds, the aching kept me awake past 1:00am – not cool since my alarm goes off at 5:00!!!

I guess I’m finally going to have to break down and call my dentist – I really thought that my ignoring tactic was going to work out.

Here’s to a better day all around!

Happy Tuesday!!! I hope that no matter what your Monday was like you have an incredible day!

Kim

Butt, Cardio, Core, Fitness, Plyo, Shoulders

Trying to Keep it Classy

December 5, 2013 Kim 58 Comments

Today’s 44 was just a hodge-podge of moves combined to make a challenging 44!! I used my agility ladder –

I forget about this when I'm not using it everyday! — I forget about this when I’m not using it everyday!

I jumped back to a plank with my feet in the middle 2 rungs – jacked my feet out to the outside rungs then back in to the middle – jumped into a squat (sort of squat and not sure why I kept checking my butt out) and repeated!

This move worked my entire body and got my heart rate way up – perfect 44!!!

On tap with Insanity the Asylum vol. 2 today – Back and 6-Pack (I hope it works!!). This workout was only 40 minutes and, like the name implies, full of moves for the back and abs – complete core work today!!! The funny (not in a HaHa kind of way!) thing is we did moves similar to the one I used for my 44 just without the ladder – good times!!

We all know that I’m not elegant at all!!!

prime example of the opposite of elegance

And, I already showed you my house which is festive but will never be elegant (just very lived in!!).

But – over at the Governor’s Row House (our event venue) I have been working on putting up some Christmas decorations and trying to keep it simple and classy. It’s a huge learning curve!!!

The previous owner had a few things in the basement and then I’ve added quite a few more – not sure how classy it is but it’s starting to look Christmasy!!!

front room - mantel — front room – mantel

I just put some small ornaments in glass jars to add color on the mantel. And, I found an old tree that had some colored lights – I added a few clear to fill in the gaps – for the front window.

The staircase is pretty by itself but I wound some garland around the rail and put a few splashes of red along the way.

In the front hall I removed a couple of chairs and put a couple of cute little lighted trees.

There is another fireplace in the room with the bar –

The ball room is fun – I put up 2 unique trees I found downstairs, added a couple of tree skirts and am in the process of hanging lights around the top of the room.

only corner of the ball room that is complete

So, hopefully even though I don’t do elegant, it is festive without being tacky!!!

Now, I’m off to climb up and down a ladder a couple hundred times to finish lighting the ball room and then I have to clean the place to get ready for tomorrow night’s event!!

Happy Thursday!

Kim

Core, Fitness, Plank, Running, Shoulders

Sometimes Technology Is Scary!

July 1, 2013 Kim 50 Comments

Today I did a move from Insanity Asylum for my 43. I used my super cool agility ladder

I like it more now that I'm not doing Insanity!! — I like it more now that I’m not doing Insanity!!

and did a moving plank with alternate shoulder taps. Down the length of the ladder and back = 1 rep. Before today, I had never done more than 6 in a row of these so 43 was brutal!!!

[youtuber youtube=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qOasmK0Nquc’]

Besides the fact that I was in plank forever, I’m pretty sure I will have bruises on my shoulders from slapping them so many times!!! I don’t know why I thought that this would be a good 43 – it was fine for about 10 reps and then it was not fun anymore!!!

Now that we are back from our quick TX trip, I am back to teaching my early morning Boot Camps. Today we did a workout based on the idea of a WOD (from CrossFit) – except we did 7 different ones – for 5 minutes each! It was AWESOME!!! The 45 minutes went very quickly!

I decided to go for a run after boot camp because it was so nice out (about 62). This was probably the best run I’ve had in awhile!!! I was shooting for 8 minute miles – 3.5 miles in 28:10 (pretty close to pace!!) + 0.5 mile cool down. Considering that the entire run was full of hills, I feel good about this run – FINALLY!!!

I love lots of things about modern technology – iPhones, laptops, iPads, digital cameras, Skype, texting……

But, there are a few issues about all of the above that sort of bother me.

1. Visiting face-to-face is almost becoming a thing of the past. One of the best parts of my trip to TX was the time I spent just hanging out with my Poppa. I left my phone in my purse and just enjoyed the time with him without any distractions. It was AWESOME!!!

2. We are dependent on our phones!!I know that I’m not the only one who has left my house and then turned around to go back because I forgot my phone!!

3. We can interact with anyone anywhere at anytime. This is the thing that, while I enjoy all of my interactions with other bloggers all over the country (and a couple of other countries) – can be the most scary. The reason this scares me is that I’m not the only one in our family who has access to all of the modern technology and the ability to interact with others.

My boys play games (Minecraft!!!) either on the computer or the XBox and I guess there are chat/instant message boards that anyone else playing the game at the same time can join in and see.These little chat boards don’t bother me too much but hooking up with different people and skyping them – totally creeps me out. (not the face-time skype, just the messaging kind)

I told my boys that just because someone says they are a 15 year-old girl doesn’t mean they really are. And, when someone starts sending you creepy messages, it is never a good thing.

When I was their age, I knew the people that I went to school with and saw in person – that was it. Now, you can “know” lots of people that you will never see in person and that can be a good thing or a really scary thing!

Has anyone ever had a bad experience with a cyber “friend”?

Happy Monday!!

Kim

Core, Fitness

Backyard/Beach Boot Camp

June 2, 2013 Kim 20 Comments

Today I used my super cool ladder (again) for the 43.

Love/Hate kind of thing! — Love/Hate kind of relationship with this thing!

I did a series of in & out abs. To do in & out abs – start in plank and jump your feet in and then back out to plank. In & out abs using the ladder just increases the challenge.

I did 43 in & out abs into the first rung of the ladder and 43 into the 2nd rung of the ladder. I’m still trying to build up to the 3rd rung (it is no joke!!) so I only did 13 on that level.

[youtuber youtube=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_wwAhBLoDw0′]

You can see from the video that I really struggle with the 3rd level – but doing any to that level is an improvement on the first time I did this move (this past Tuesday) when I couldn’t even do 1!!!

Today was another day of Insanity Asylum – Speed and Agility. This workout seemed harder than the first time I did it. Probably because now I know the moves so I did everything hard-core!!! Finished with sweat dripping everywhere – SUCCESS!!!

Well, if you’ve been reading this blog for awhile you know that earlier in the spring I passed my ACE personal trainer certification but I haven’t done anything with it yet. I decided to just take the plunge and start using some of my training and previous education.

So, I’m starting a backyard/beach bootcamp!!! (some days it will be in my backyard and some days at the swim beach)

Tomorrow is the first day and I’m so excited!! (and NERVOUS!!!) It has been a long time since I led a fitness group of any type. This morning, I even made Chris and the boys go through tomorrows plan as a practice!!!

I think that boot camp should be challenging but I don’t want it to be so hard that no one wants to come back. I also want to make sure that it is a complete workout every time.

strength
cardio
flexibility
core
lower body
upper body

I hope that this will be a fun experience for everyone but also one where they see results!!!

I’m off to enjoy a relaxing day (if going to the grocery store is considered relaxing) because this week starts with early morning workouts everyday (plus my normal workouts) and hopefully the boys and I will finally be able to enjoy the swim beach (if the sun decides to shine) – gonna be busy!!!

Happy Sunday!!!

Kim

Day With KT