Tag Archives: Crunch

Butt, Core, Fitness, Plyo, Running, Treadmill

One Kind Act Is Worth More than 100 Acts Done out of Resentment

January 4, 2014 Kim 48 Comments

Last night I asked Hunter for some suggestions for today’s 44. He came up with one and it was rough!!! I’m not really sure what to call it – HARD?

The move consists of a jump in the air – roll (fall, whatever) back – crunch – pop up (hardest part for me!) – jump – repeat x 44!!!

I asked Hunter if he would do the demo and he agreed even though he had already taken a shower (so sweet!).

I decided to get in another run today. Since I ran nice and easy yesterday, I bumped it up today.
1.5% incline – 5 miles in 30:52 (then some easy miles!)

The other night at dinner I told Chris and the boys that I was going to try to make kindness a bigger part of my daily life.

I decided that for the month of January (and hopefully longer), I would try to make a purposeful effort to do something kind each day.

I know it’s only been a few days but in that short time I’ve discovered something – the act of kindness is all about the attitude!

Yesterday’s act of kindness was something that I would have done anyway but by changing my attitude and wanting to do something kind I actually enjoyed it so much more than if I had just done it and felt resentful for having to do it at all!!

I think that I’m going to enjoy being more purposeful about seeking out ways to be kind and I can already tell that this is one of those things that is going to make my life that much happier!!!

There are many times that I do things but resent it the entire time – my hope is that by choosing to look at some of these things as an act of kindness the resentment will fade and it will become more natural for me to look for ways to be kind!!!

I think that in the big picture I am the one who will benefit the most from choice to try and perform more acts of kindness!!!

Happy Saturday!!!

Kim

Core, Fitness

The Joys of Moody Teenage Boys!!!

November 5, 2013 Kim 70 Comments

Today’s 44 is a Special Ops move!!! Well, maybe not but I did see it in a book called Special Ops Fitness. It is a reverse crunch and it started off fairly easy until about 8 or so and then it was HARD!!!

Keep your arms crossed and tight to your chest as you slowly lower your upper body.

hold - don't rush!! — hold – don’t rush!!

Move your arms away from your body as you SLOWLY return to the seated position.

Tuck your arms back to your chest and repeat!

Garage Boot Camp was fun – some weights and cardio – my favorite!!! We did Tone and Hold Boot Camp.

Most school days, the high light of my day is when Jordan gets off the bus. (Hunter usually has stuff after school so he gets home later.) Jordan will have a snack and sit and tell me ALL about his day – lots of days he talks for over an hour!!! I do my very best to always be available at this time because I don’t want to miss out on him sharing with me.

Jordan is usually a very happy positive person – pleasant and fun to be around. Except when he’s not!!! For some reason yesterday afternoon he was in a mood and the longer we talked the worse it got.

It didn’t help that he had homework and I actually dared to ask about it (just like I do most days!!!). Oops!!!

Fortunately, he went down and did his homework and then chilled for a bit before dinner. By dinner he was back to being his normal sweet self – HOORAY!!!

This morning Hunter is in a mood because he slept through his alarm!!

For some reason this always starts his day off on a bad note! (He only got up 5 minutes later than normal because when I came in from boot camp I woke him up so it’s not like he had to scramble to get ready!!)

I always tell him it’s no big deal and that he still has plenty of time to get ready – not the point!!! OY!!!!!

Hopefully he won’t let this ruin his day – kind of early in the day to decide it’s not going to be a good one!!!

Not sure that I’m prepared for the moodiness of the next few years – hopefully it is just occasional and not the new norm!!!

Anyone else have moody teenagers or other family members?

Happy Tuesday!!!

Kim

Core, Fitness

Fixin’ to do Something Really Hard – Help!!!

September 29, 2013 Kim 41 Comments

Today I did a fairly simple 44 – a crunch with my elbows glued to the ground the entire time. Try it – it really changes the way you work your abs!!!

start - elbows on the ground — start – elbows on the ground

crunch up - fists tap thighs (elbows stay pressed into ground) — crunch up – fists tap thighs (elbows stay pressed into ground)

You can see that it is a small crunch but you have to hold tight with your abs!!!

It might seem like I haven’t been working out much but that is because I have been getting activity through other methods. Thursday I spent 7 hours cleaning (an apartment & our venue), setting up for a wedding (moving 140 chairs x2), and ironing (20+ large tablecloths) – that entire time was spent standing and moving and lifting and bending!!!

Yesterday I spent 9 hours painting one of the apartments we have that is now vacant. Squatting, bending, climbing up and down a ladder – it was a workout for sure. I figure these long days of solid activity and standing are good for my overall endurance when it comes to my 50.

I wrote a post in April about asking for help – is it a strength or a weakness? For me, it is one of the hardest things in the world to do.

Paint 9 hours? no problem
Drive across country by myself? easy
Run 50 miles? I think I got it
Ask for help? ummm…….

I don’t like to ask anyone for help – ever!!! Not the boys, not friends, not even Chris! I’m not sure why it is so hard for me to ask – I’m pretty sure it goes back to when I was young!

However, I’m at a point where I have to bite the bullet and ask.

I don’t know how to make the logistics of the 50 mile weekend work without help!!! The race is 100 miles from here (through the Flint Hills in Cassody, KS) and with the drive each way, check in, running…..Chris and I will be gone for pretty much a 24 hour period (with ZERO sleep for either of us).

I had originally planned to leave the boys home but the more I think about it the more stress that causes me (Jordan is only 14 – pretty sure there are some kind of laws about that!!!). They have no desire (or need) to be up all night just because I’m crazy!!!

There aren’t any hotels in the town we will be in because I thought about that option, too.

And, we have a wedding changeover that night – at pretty much the same time I start running! Because we are a small staff – pretty much of 1 – we don’t have anyone else trained to set-up. And, you know I haven’t asked anyone to help!!

So today, I’m going to have to suck it up and ask for help!!! (after I spend many more hours painting and cleaning!!) Or, maybe I will put it off another day – I’m sure if I keep waiting it will get easier, right?!

Happy Sunday!!!

Kim

Core

406 Wall-Sits (1 minute each) – DONE!!

February 28, 2013 Kim

Today was a Pilates kind-of day! I even did a Pilates move for my 43. Double-leg drops – great for about the first 15 then….

[youtuber youtube=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJ6Lp38H-Dk’]

I tried to do a smooth 2-count down and 2-count up until I reached finally reached #43.

This was a rest day for Les Mills Combat but I didn’t want to take the day completely off. I did a Crunch DVD – Fat Burning Pilates. I’m happy with my choice to do something but I knew I wasn’t up for a hard-core workout!! I needed a bit of a break!

At the beginning of February I started a new self-challenge. I decided to pick an exercise and do it every day for the month of February equal to the day of the month.

For some crazy reason, I choose to do 1-minutes wall-sits. Fine for the first few days but the past week and a half have been HARD!!!

Some stats – 406 wall sits = 406 minutes = 6 hours 46 min

February: 24(hours) x 28(days) = 672 hours 672(hours) x 60(min) = 40,320 minutes

406/40,320 = 1%

That’s right!! I spent 1% of the month of February sitting on the wall with my quads burning!

I had to make tally marks to keep track!! So thankful for my phone to use as both timer and entertainment!!!

Chris and Hunter have also participated in the February daily challenge – Chris with push-ups and Hunter, burpees. They still have 28 for today and then they will be challenge winners!!! Way to go, guys!!

Time to think up the next fun challenge – love having little goals!!!

For now though, I have a school newsletter to pull together, type, print and get 400 copies made before 3:30 today!!! Gotta get busy!

Happy Thursday!

Kim