Tag Archives: core

Epic Shelving Disaster!!!

January 6, 2013 Kim 6 Comments

The 43 today had to be lower body because my upper body is sore!!! I did an exercise to work my butt and quads plus a bonus core work-out!!

The move started with a front kick

right into a back kick

This was one of those great exercises where I did 43 with my left leg and then immediately did a second set of 43 with my right leg. I tried to barely tap my toe in between kicks so that I could get the extra core work trying to keep my balance.

The rest of my work-out today was the 12 Days of Fitness. Today was the final day so I decided to take it a step further – I did the entire thing 5x through! It was a great work-out!!! I did it like a circuit and just kept moving from one exercise to the next. My heart rate was way up there!!!

If you haven’t clicked over to check the plan out, here it is. (Gina at the Fitnessista always has great work-outs like this on her site!!!)

Day 12 12 Sumo Burpees
Day 11 11 Weighted Squats (25 pound DBs for me)
Day 10 10 Overhead Press (15 pound DBs for me)
Day 9 9 Lateral Lunges – each side (25 pound DBs for me)
Day 8 8 Bicep Curls (15 pound DBs for me)
Day 7 7 Triceps Dips
Day 6 6 Pull-Ups (assisted ones for me – used a step stool)
Day 5 5 Frog Crunches
Day 4 4 Toe Touches – each side
Day 3 3 Mountain Climbers – each side
Day 2 2 Push-Ups
Day 1 1 Minute Plank (arms extended)

It really didn’t take long to go through the whole set (less than 5 minutes) – the weights really got my heart rate going. Bonus – 5 total minutes in plank today!!!

Yesterday while putting up all of the Christmas stuff, I had a ~~minor~~ ~~large~~ DISASTER of EPIC proportion!!! I have a few cookbooks and all of them were on the jankity shelves in our storage room so that I could have Christmas decorations (Santas) everywhere!!!

I was stacking a plastic tub full of Christmas stuff in the corner by the shelves and this happened:

It was scary because I could see the shelves going down but I couldn’t do anything to stop it except jump back out of the way so that I didn’t get buried alive!!! Because the shelves contained a lot of other ~~crap~~ stuff and some of it was breakable and I heard that awful shattering noise over my loud screams! I had to keep the boys back because I didn’t want any cut feet in addition to the mess. They were troopers though – I pulled books out and they carried them upstairs – lots and lots of trips upstairs!!

Many hours later, after a trip to the store and more teamwork on the part of the boys and myself, our storage room looked like this:

Check out the new – STURDY – shelves put together by yours truly!

New Shelves - built by me! — New Shelves

We might have a bit of Christmas decorations – can’t help it – I love Christmas!!!

6 trees boxed & stacked1 $5 garage sale bargain tree left out! — 6 trees, boxed & stacked
1 $5 garage sale bargain tree left out!

Today I just need to get a few more of the green bins (I decided that if I had to reorganize I might as well color coordinate!!!) and then I think the room will be done!

Last night we had the privilege of watching a friend’s 6 month old little boy while they went to a winter party. Fun times!!! Always a joy to get in a little baby time!

Happy Sunday – hopefully no disasters ahead!!!

Kim

Core, Fitness, Shoulders

Packing Up

January 5, 2013 Kim 1 Comment

My shoulders are burning from today’s 43 – get a pair of dumbbells and try it yourself!!! The move was fairly simple – hold both arms up at 90 degrees (with a dumbbell if you want to really up the challenge!). Keep the left arm stationary, press the right arm up and twist your body to the left – hold for a 2 count. Return to start.

[youtuber youtube=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4teQ6eZJioA&feature=youtu.be’]

In the demo I only did 3 reps per side. You know I really did 43 with my right side and then another 43 with my left. I used 10 pound dumbbells and even just holding my arm at 90 was brutal – the press was a total killer! Now I know y’all want to bust out a few!!!

Day 11 of the 12 Days of Fitness today. The new move – weighted squats. I used 25 pounds and held each squat for a 3-count. Only 1 more exercise to add to complete the series!

Today I also did an amazing ab/core that I got from Tamara at Fitknitchick. It is just 6 abdominal exercises and you do each one for a minute – as many reps as possible. I set my Gymboss timer for 2 intervals – a 1 minute one and a 10 second one.

I love this handy timer!!! After 1 minute, it immediately starts on the 10 second rest count-down and then BOOM – you start on the next 1 minute exercise.

The AB plan:

standing oblique crunches
walking plank
feet elevated crunches
V-sit with alternating side rotations
side plank with hip drop
reverse curls

Tamara suggested 30 seconds per side for the side plank. I changed it a little – I did the entire series 2x and did a left side plank the first time and a right side plank the second set. This was a great work-out!!!

Today is going to be a work day here – time to pack up all of the Christmas decorations and trees for another year!!! It will be a chore – good thing the boys are ~~volunteering~~ ~~willing~~ ~~gladly~~ going to help!!!! There will be 100s of trips up & down the stairs hauling ~~crap~~ all of our decorations and my cookbooks!!! Chris gets to miss the fun – drill weekend for him. I guess I will let it slide since technically he is working, too!! (plus he had to get up at 5:00 again this morning and I slept till 7:00!!!)

Good-bye trees!!! I’m ready to put the stuff up but I really like having the tree lights in all of the rooms. Maybe I should string lights up all around the inside of the house…hmmm.

Happy Saturday!!!

Kim

Core, Fitness

Time to Buckle Down

December 27, 2012 Kim

Today, I needed a partner for my 43. Thanks, Jordan. (Except, he only did the easy part. When I offered to switch with him he said – no, that’s OK. Weak!!!)

The 43 was a partner leg lift. I laid on the ground in front of Jordan and held onto his ankles. I raised my legs to 90 degrees and he pushed them down. I had to hold my abs (very) tight to control my legs on the way down and then bring them up for another rep.

[youtuber youtube=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fo3vFjI–y4′]

Sorry for cutting your head off, Jordan. (Hunter was still sleeping and apparently, the timer function on my camera doesn’t work for video.) Oh, well – you get the point!

The last 8 or so were HARD!!!!

Yesterday, the Fitnessista, started a 12 Days of Fitness Challenge. I think it will be a fun addition to my daily work-outs. If you are interested, the challenge is here. I like that each day ends with a 1 minute plank hold – hopefully this will help me be able to reach my goal of holding an extended plank (on hands with arms fully extended) for 5+ minutes!

I feel like I have lost a lot of my cardio in the last 3.5 weeks and that is going to change!!! I still can’t run but I’m going to increase my work-outs again!

Today I did one of The Firm DVDs – Dangerous Curves Ahead. The thing I like about most of the Firm work-outs is the combination of cardio and toning. This one is almost an hour and I did keep the entire thing low impact (even though I hate doing that!!) so that my hip will hopefully heal!

Chris went back to work and the boys and I have a couple of projects to get done around the house today. Good news – tonight is Thirsty Thursday!!! Looking forward to hooking up with some friends for!!

Happy Thursday!

Kim

BOSU, Cardio, Core, Fitness, Shoulders

Fun Times – Games, Friends, “Work-out Tools” & Bells!!!

December 21, 2012 Kim 2 Comments

I love the fact that both of my boys have totally embraced my daily 43 and are willing to help me by filming me or doing the demos themselves!!! I REALLY love it when they pick the move of the day!!!

Today’s 43 is compliments of Hunter. He told me I should do classic boxing (classic according to Hunter). Perfect – what would that be? Duh….. (sometimes my boys think I don’t know things – shows what they know!!!). Classic boxing: jab-jab-punch-jab-jab-punch-uppercut-hook.

right jab
right jab
left punch
right jab
right jab
left punch
right uppercut
left hook

Well, I decided that I wanted to make the “classic boxing” a little more challenging so I added this:

Much better!!!

[youtuber youtube=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=krPD8W3BoEo’]

Of course, after I did the first 43, I had to switch sides and do another 43 using the opposite arm for each move!!! Thanks for a great idea, Hunter. This worked my core, arms, legs (I kept my knees slightly bent in a semi-squat on BOSU) and got my heart rate up!!!

Yesterday was a perfect snow day!!! The boys and I spent about 3 hours playing Monopoly (I won!! Chris thinks I’m awful but it is all in fun). Last night, Chris and I met up with some great friends for drinks and dinner – good times!!!

A good friend posted this on my Facebook page yesterday:Um….yes, please!!! See, here is my “work-out equipment” ready to go!

The other night a friend of mine gave me an early Christmas gift. The best part?

I can’t even begin to tell you how much this bell entertains me. Chris, however, doesn’t seem to find it quite as much fun – not sure why?!?! I think it will grow on him!!! (or he might try to hide it…hmmmm)

Gotta bundle up and do some last minute errands and hit up the grocery store (not sure how that venture plays into Fun Friday since it will be a crazy mess – maybe I should take my bell with me!!!)

Enjoy your Fun Friday!!!

Kim

Core, Fitness, Shoulders

Going in Circles

December 12, 2012 Kim 3 Comments

Today’s 43 really tested one of my weakest areas – shoulders! Plus, I sat on my stability ball while doing the 43 so that gave me a little bit of core work!!!

The actual move was ~~sort-of~~ totally old school – arm circles!! I sat on the stability ball and held a dumbbell in each hand (I used 5 pound dumbbells today) with my arms fully extended to the sides. Then, I did 43 circles to the front and another 43 to the back. The circle part wasn’t really bad – the challenge came from holding my arms at shoulder height and keeping them fully extended the entire time.

[youtuber youtube=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=giIxWpjlfA0′]

(for the demo I just did 5 and 5 – those didn’t count as part of the true 43)

I decided to take a little Pilates break today and do a different non-weight bearing work-out. I did a Bender Ball work-out. You do traditional core moves using this little ball:

I know that tomorrow I will feel this in every part of my core!!!

I decided that I was on a roll (ha-ha – I entertain myself sometime!) with core and shoulders today so I thought it would be fun to see how long I could hold plank. (I know some of y’all can hold it a long time!!!) I got in position with my, iPhone right under my face, and hit start. I lasted for ……3 minutes!!! I know that is the longest I have ever held plank at one time – not sure if I want to try to go longer or not – maybe next time I will hold plank on my elbows instead of with my arms fully extended! (or maybe I won’t let my competitive nature take over and push me to try and go longer & longer & longer….hmmm)

Time to go get my nails done! (I know – completely frivolous and unnecessary but it makes me happy!!!)

This afternoon I get to help in the library at Hunter’s school – my favorite!!!

Happy 12-12-12!!!

Kim

Day With KT