Tag Archives: mountain climbers

500 Posts!!!

November 16, 2013 Kim 68 Comments

Today’s 44 was a super fun move!!! I got it from the super cute Allie @ VitaTrain4Life. Allie is tough and she made this move look easy but it was hard!!! She actually included this move in an entire ab workout – Allie’s Abs – I should probably do the entire video for a 44 – maybe then my abs would look more like hers!!!

Anyway, the move – 4 mountain climbers and a push-up x 44!!!

I realized the other day that my published posts were getting close to 500 and TODAY is the day that I’m publishing my 500th post!!!

I have actually only blogged for 427 consecutive days (365 days of 43 and 62 days of 44) but along the way I’ve done posts with recipes, boot camps, some workout reviews and even a few random fun posts!!!

To celebrate my 500th post I thought I would share a few of my favorite posts.

My very first post ever was on my birthday in 2012 when I turned 43 – I had absolutely no clue what I was doing but I’m so glad I decided to give blogging a try!

Because we all know by now that I love a nice ~~bottle~~ ~~glass~~ bottle of wine, this post about German wine makes me smile!!! (Except I’m down to only a couple of bottles left – not cool!!)

Some of the pictures we took in our attempt to get a good one for our Christmas card last year were super entertaining – mostly thanks to Jordan!!! Actually, it’s about time for me to think about this year’s family picture – better get on that!!!

I have to share my all-time favorite drink – The Educated Cosmo – just saying the name makes me happy!!!

I love to try new recipes and only have a few stand-by dishes that I go back to over and over. The sad thing when I try something new and we all like it, months down the road Chris or one of the boys will ask me to make such-and-such again – ummm……I have no idea how I made it on that day!!! Last February I tried a new crock pot soup and we all loved it – Chicken and Rice Gumbo Soup. I figured that by putting my recipe on here I would be able to go back to it!!!

I think that my favorite boot camp workout that I did this summer was Tabata Boot Camp – super fun way to get in a great workout!

And, I can’t do a list of my favorite posts without listing some of my favorite blogs and blog friends!!! The only problem with that list is it’s a couple months old and I’ve added in a few more favorites since then!!!

I have other favorites but I figure that I’ve been self-indulgent enough for one day!!!

Feel free to link up one of your favorite posts from your site in the comments – such a great way to catch up on any that we might have missed out on!!

Happy Saturday!!!

Kim

BOSU, Cardio, Core, Fitness, Shoulders

Exercise Is NOT One Size Fits All

November 6, 2013 Kim 78 Comments

Today’s 44 was fun!!! Kristen @ Stuft Mama demoed this super cool move yesterday and I knew that I had to give it a try. It is called – The Monkey.

Basically it is a cross body mountain climber using the

See why I had to try it?!

[youtuber youtube=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XxBG2OW98hs’]

You can do this move without a BOSU if you don’t have one available.

Since I already had my BOSU out I decided to do a workout with it – I did BOSU Total Body Conditioning. It is a fun workout that mixes cardio, strength moves, balance training and core work. The biggest downside – it was only about 30 minutes.

So, I also did Les Mills Pump – Combat. This has been one of my favorite workouts from the very first time I tried it. It is 45 minutes worth of non-stop cardio in the form of kicking and punching. The time flies by and I always feel like I’ve gotten a great workout.

I’ve never really understood the concept of “one size fits all.” How is it even possible when we are all so different?!?!

I think that with exercise we really have to steer away from the idea that one size fits all.

Everyone needs to figure out what works for them and not do something just because it seems to be what everyone else is doing.

For the past few months I’ve tried a bit of an experiment with my working out and it hasn’t worked well for me. For a long time I have read about and observed many people who thrive on minimal amounts of time for working out.

Workouts like the 7 minute workout are everywhere these days!!! And, I truly love that type of workout!!!

However, for me, it isn’t enough!!!

This fall I made a conscious effort to try and cut down on my workout time – most days I have only spent 40-45 minutes total working out instead of the 1-2 hours that I used to spend.

I’ve realized that I actually feel better when I workout longer – it may be all psychological and I’m totally OK with that.

So, I tried something and figured out that it was not a fit for me!!

Have you tried things that seem to be the “norm” and realized they weren’t for you?
Do you like short workouts or longer sessions?

Happy Wednesday!!!

Kim

Core, Fitness

A Retirement Tribute

July 27, 2013 Kim 18 Comments

Today for my 43 I worked my abs (silly since the rest of my workout was very ab/core heavy!!). I used my band –

With the band – I did a bicycle counting a right twist and a left twist as 1 rep. The resistance of the band adds a nice little extra to the standard bicycle crunch.

[youtuber youtube=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZZS5XrQhEw’]

After that, I did my 3rd round of the Climbing Everest challenge (from Taylor @ Lifting Revolution). Today instead of doing 1000 total reps, I did 1500. Instead of 7 sets of 100 mountain climbers, I did 7 sets of 150. And the 6 other moves that are normally 50, I made 75. Yikes – that really made this a difficult workout!!

Tuesday – 1000 reps – 14:13
Thursday – 1000 reps – 12:23
Saturday – 1500 reps – 19:13

Yesterday was not a beach day – we had much better things today!!

The main reason that we picked Bradenton Beach, FL for our vacation this year was because some of our long-time friends recently moved here and yesterday was DP’s retirement from the Air Force.

We first met the Page family when Chris and DP were in pilot training together in Lubbock, TX. They started off flying the T-37 Tweet –

The next plane that they both flew was the T-1. They were both planning to be “heavy” pilots (not fighter pilots).

After Pilot Training, the Pages moved to Oklahoma and DP flew the E-3 AWACS –

Later in his career, he flew the RC-135 (an air refueler – Chris flies the KC-135) –

For 22 years, DP has served our country! He has been deployed numerous times and has been involved in 1000s of missions both during war-time and peace-time.

The retirement was a great time to honor DP and for him to share about the family and friends that have supported he and his family during his career.

Throughout DP’s incredible military career, his wife (Erica) has been the most supportive military wife possible. She has survived numerous deployments, moves all over the place (even other countries), raised their 2 boys (often as a single mom) and done it all without ever complaining!!!

The Page family is a true example of a family that has given themselves 100% to our country!!!

Plus, they are just amazing people!! They are the kind of friends that if you need something (anything) you call them! We have taken several trips to Hawaii with them, visited their home and hosted them in our home – every time we are together is always a fun experience and plenty of great memories are created. (It helps that their 2 boys and our 2 are close in age and all get along!)

Congratulations DP & Erica!! We are proud to be your friends and love all of the times we have shared together!!! We’re looking forward to tons of new memories (on the beach!!)!

Happy Saturday!

Kim

Cardio, Chest, Core, Fitness, Push-Ups, Shoulders

Packed Sand or Loose Sand for Working Out?

July 25, 2013 Kim 41 Comments

Today I did my 43 on the beach! It was hard!! I did a burpee with a tuck jump (although my tucks are not very high!).

[youtuber youtube=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCSfRRoiuA4′]

It is HARD to jump up high in the sand!! This was a 43 that pretty much worked my entire body.

I also did my 2nd round of this week’s workout with Taylor’s challenge. I’m pretty sure that I’m doing the wrong workout this week but I decided to just stick with it because it is perfect for vacation – the one part that requires weights I can use my bands. This is the workout that has 1000 total reps (700 are mountain climbers!). Tuesday it took 14:13 and today I crushed my time – 12:23!!

And, because we are on vacation and I’m trying to maximize time, that was the extent of my work out!! Not gonna lie – working out for less than 30 minutes is not my normal and I’m trying really hard to be OK with the fact that if I go all-out for a short amount of time (HIIT) then I don’t need to work out for hours. Still working on the whole guilt thing!!

Burning Question:

In my 43 video today, you can see that I worked out in the loose heavy sand. I think it’s much more difficult to perform moves that require any jumping in the loose sand. However, when I was doing the burpees this morning, I had someone tell me that I should do them on the packed sand to really get the full benefit.

So – what do you think? More benefits from trudging through the loose sand or the packed sand?

And – you know I have to post some more beach pictures!!

[youtuber youtube=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQgDZ13AERI’]

Chris and the boys playing in the water – Chris and Hunter said the waves were big enough that it was a workout. Jordan said it wasn’t even close to a workout – maybe because he has been doing boot camp with me all summer!!!

Happy Thursday!!

Kim

Back, Fitness, Shoulders

GUILT

July 23, 2013 Kim 45 Comments

For my 43 today, I pulled out my bands (the perfect travel equipment!) –

I decided to do a combo move with them to work my shoulders and upper back. I stood on the band and did a right arm shoulder press and a left arm row.

I’m not gonna lie – this move ended up being hard – and the surprising part was that the row was harder than the press!!

And, of course, another set of 43 with my arms switched.

By the end of the two 43 sets my arms were shaking!!!

My workout today was actually really short (just under 15 minutes) but intense!! I’m still participating in Taylor’s 6 week challenge and the workout this week is 1000 reps (700 of which are mountain climbers!!) for time. This is a perfect workout for this week – next time I think I will do it on the beach!!!

Guilt – so many emotions all wrapped up in one word. I think that some of us (like me) have a really hard time letting go of guilt. For as long as I can remember I have lived with guilt. Growing up (especially when I was in high school) it was a constant. And, becoming a mom brought a whole new level of guilt into my world.

I struggle daily with trying to let go of all of the guilt I feel. Most of it these days is all brought on by myself. Chris and the boys never say things to purposefully make me feel guilty – they don’t need to because I make myself feel guilty without any help!!!Many days I feel like I carry guilt around for no reason. I have tried to let a lot of things from my past go and tell myself that I should not feel guilty about things I can’t change. And over the years since becoming a mom, my guilt has actually lessened (not gone completely but much less!) – I spent years feeling like every thing I did was the wrong thing – I was totally clueless about babies and kids and made many mistakes but I think in the big picture everything is really OK.

Some days I feel guilty for things that are actually completely beyond my control – but that doesn’t make me feel any less guilty!!!

Even now when we are having a great time on vacation –(how could you not have a great time when this is the destination?) – being on the beach, with my family and some really great friends – I feel guilty.

My sweet Poppa has been in the hospital since Saturday morning.

I’ve talked to my twin brother and my younger sister who drove down to be with him in the hospital and still don’t know if I should try to get to Texas or just stay here with my family.

Guilt – a constant struggle to decide the right thing to do and then live with the decision!!!

Do you struggle with guilt? How do you overcome it?

Happy Tuesday!

Kim

Day With KT