Tag Archives: plank

Core, Fitness

Struggling

June 26, 2013 Kim 46 Comments

Today’s 43 was a plank with a leg lift using my band for extra resistance! I wrapped the band around my foot –

After I had the band secured, I got into the plank position.

From this position, I lifted and lowered my right leg 43 times.

The sad thing on this move – after I finished 43 with my right leg, I still had another set of 43 with my left leg!

The band really made this a tough move today!!! Besides the leg lift, I had to hold plank for quite a while!!

I did another hotel friendly workout this morning – Les Mills Combat – Combat 45.

combat gloves - make you feel powerful!!! — combat gloves – make you feel powerful!!!

I put on my gloves and kicked and punched and jumped (tried to make sure and land soft so the people in the room below me didn’t complain!!). It’s been awhile since I did combat and I enjoyed it as much as ever!!!

Yesterday I mentioned that I had a completely awful run. I’m not sure why but I know that the problem didn’t have anything to do with my legs!! It was all about my breathing. I spent the entire run trying to settle into my breathing but it never happened!! I felt like I was gasping and panting the entire time!!!

If I had been running outside, I could have chalked it up to the heat/humidity. However, I was on a treadmill in a climate controlled environment.

I know that dehydration can make it hard to run and cause breathing problems but I’ve made sure to keep drinking plenty of water even though we are on vacation.

The boys and I always take the stairs at the hotel (we are on the 3rd floor) because we need all the extra activity we can get!!! 2 different times in the past 3 days I’ve felt like the little man in the above picture. Really?!! I shouldn’t have any problems going up a couple flights of stairs.

I’m not sure why I’m having such a hard time this week – all of my workouts have been harder than they should be. There are several factors that could be causing this – I’m just not sure what it is exactly.

Over-training? Maybe – the past few weeks I’ve pushed myself pretty hard.

Stress? Quite possibly. Even though the boys and I are having a great time, being away from home as a “single” parent is always a little stressful. Plus the fact that I haven’t talked to Chris since Saturday!

Fatigue? Pretty sure this is part of it – lack of quality sleep tends to add up!

Well, tomorrow is another day and I will have another run – hopefully after a relaxing day and a good night’s sleep it will be better!!!

Do you ever struggle with your breathing while doing what should be an easy run or other simple activity?

Happy Wednesday!!

Kim

Core, Fitness

Jumping, Kicking, Squatting all Night Long

June 18, 2013 Kim 26 Comments

Today for my 43, I did a plank with some extra stability work. I started in elbow plank, pulled my right knee into my chest then extended my right leg into a leg raise. Then, I did the same thing with my left leg. I counted a right leg and left leg move as 1 rep.

[youtuber youtube=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ma7agAXug6w’]

I should have timed my plank!!! This took awhile to complete since it was 43 knee pulls/leg raises per side!

I did Insanity Asylum – Vertical Plyo before heading to the swim beach to teach Boot Camp. I only have a few days left of Insanity – WooHoo!!! Today I actually enjoyed the plyo workout more than I have other days – maybe because I knew it was my last time doing it for awhile!!

Boot Camp at the beach always makes me happy – the lake is peaceful early in the mornings. Today we did Tabata boot camp and it was so much harder in the sand than it was yesterday morning in the garage!! The sand gave us some bonus toning work!! Plus, with all of the jumping and kicking – I pretty much took a shower in sand!!! Good Times!!

Lately, every time I wake up during the night (it’s always a lot of times!!!) – I’ve been dreaming about jumping and kicking and squatting. It’s not always me that’s jumping – sometimes I’m watching people (or maybe animals) jump – but there is always action and movement in the form of jumping and bouncing!!!All night long – jump, squat, kick…..I don’t know if it’s because I go to bed thinking about the next day’s boot camp or Insanity workout or even just trying to decide what my 43 will be or what the deal is but I’m ready for some different themed dreams!! Sometimes I feel like I might be a ~~little~~ obsessed with all things fitness related – that doesn’t mean I want to dream about it every night!!!See – everyone’s jumping and moving – just like in my dreams!!!!And, everyone is running through the list of proper form and technique – over and over. I guess if this little guy is doing it then it isn’t that bad!!But all the nighttime jumping is wearing me out!!! I need a night where I dream about and maybe if I dream hard enough I will wake up and find myself actually relaxing in this gorgeous setting instead of jumping and kicking and squatting and doing burpees!!!!!

And the best part of these dreams? Along with jumping there is music from my new workout craze – Zumba!!!

[youtuber youtube=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GzAQ1XZH-j8′]

Yep – I hear that song a lot in my dreams – while jumping!!!!

Anyone else have dreams where you wake up exhausted from all the action in the dream?

Happy Tuesday – here’s to relaxing dreams for all tonight!!!

Kim

Core, Fitness, Plank, Shoulders, Triceps

Real Life vs. Online Life

May 31, 2013 Kim 24 Comments

Today’s 43 was a challenge – my favorite kind of 43!!! I got this move from Insanity Asylum (I’m a little obsessed with my new program!). The move is a hip raise – roll – plank.

I’m going to try and describe it but I’m afraid it might be a little confusing (good thing there is a demo!!). Start on the ground with your right leg extended and your right hand on the ground. Your left knee should be bent, foot on the ground. Push your hips up (using your right arm) and rotate to the right until you are in plank. While in plank, curl your right leg up. Rotate to the left until you are back to the starting position. Repeat (x43).

[youtuber youtube=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KhElDtXY6ZM’]

You can see that I did a little mini push-up while in the plank – just an extra bonus!!! And, Jordan helped me with the demo when he finally got up which was after I had already completed my 43 and sweaty workout so I was TIRED by the time we filmed this!!

Also, this was one of those super 43s where I did 2 sets because after I did all of them on my right side I had to switch and do 43 on my left. My triceps and shoulders were shaking and burning by the time I finished!!!

Today’s Insanity Asylum workout was by far the hardest one yet – Vertical Plyo! Like the name implies, there was a LOT of jumping!!! The 10 minute warm-up was brutal and then the workout – YIKES!!! Did I mention that there was a LOT of jumping?! This is the kind of workout that pretty much sucks while you’re doing it but after you are done you feel awesome!!!!

So lately I’ve read lots of the great recap posts about the Blend Retreat from a couple weeks ago. I know there are a lot of other neat events where bloggers meet each other, too.

Reading about some of these has caused me to start thinking about the differences between meeting people online (through blogs and other social media) and in person. Over the past few months, I have gotten to “know” some really amazing people through their blogs.

So far, I haven’t met any of my blogger friends in real life. Last night I was talking to Chris and I told him that I hope to eventually met some of them in person. What I really hope, though, is that when I meet my online friends for the first time – I’m the person they expected to meet!

Meaning that I hope no one thinks it is like the little Facebook cartoon above!!! I try to keep my blog real and be exactly the same in it that I am in real life!! Just like all of my wonderful pictures and videos – I don’t primp for them – cause I don’t fix myself up to workout!!!

I try to make most of my posts positive but some days (ummm…yesterday!) it just doesn’t happen cause life isn’t all roses for any of us!!! Over-all though, I love my life and am usually happy both on my blog, when I comment on other blogs and in real life!!!

So, I hope that at some point I get to meet a lot of y’all!! I even know some of the things I want to do with some of my blog friends: (see if you know who some of these might be)

ride scooters to the playground
get the best weight room experience of my life
run (so this one is almost everyone!!!)
go to the Mall of America

I could list more but I already sound like a creepy stalker!!!

What are your experiences meeting your blog friends for the first time? Were they exactly what you expected, better?

Happy Fun Friday!!!

Kim

Core, Fitness

A Few Basic Facts

April 20, 2013 Kim 12 Comments

Today’s 43 was fun!! Just 2 simple parts: plank

then push back to a pike.

The work comes on the way back down to the plank – you have to really hold your core muscles tight to stop yourself so that you are level (no droopy butts here!!).

I tried to keep the movements nice and smooth – not super fast – so that I could get max benefit from this exercise. I timed this 43 and it took 2:38 to complete all the reps.

Definitely a move I recommend trying!!!

Then, I pulled out one of my old-school TaeBo DVDs. I did Total Body Fat Blaster and it was HARD. For this workout, you use bands that slip onto each foot. (I took out the 1 pound weights inside of mine and still struggled!)I’ve always enjoyed TaeBo and today was no exception. This workout was 55 minutes of cardio and toning all tied together. My arms are still shaking from all of the tension the bands provide!!

A friend had this on FB the other day and I thought it was too good not to share!!!

Some of the other “facts” I have learned over the years:

You can’t keep your eyes open when you sneeze.
If you do manage to sneeze with your eyes open, your eyeballs will pop out!
If you cross your eyes, they could get stuck in that position.
Almost all dust is actually human skin cells that have been shed.
It is not possible to tickle yourself no matter how ticklish you are.
You can’t hum when your nose is plugged.
Cracking your knuckles causes arthritis.

Do you know which of he above “facts” are real and which are myths?

Happy Saturday!!! (don’t you feel smarter or at least happier for reading the silly facts?!)

Kim

Cardio, Fitness, Squats, Stairs

Catching Up

April 17, 2013 Kim 21 Comments

Today my 43 ended up being my work-out, too. I decided to use our stairs to really work my legs. I went up the stairs sideways skipping every other step:

On the way down, I stayed sideways but didn’t skip steps.

Because I didn’t want one leg to get more work (or be stronger!!), I did 2 sets of 43 – one leading with my right leg (left leg pushing off) and the other leading with my left leg (right leg pushing off).

The move is like a sideways squat (just on an uneven surface) and it took 7 “squats” for each trip up the stairs so I did 301 “squats” with each leg!!! Not too shabby – plus I kept the pace pretty quick so I got my heart rate up!!

Then I decided to try a plank hold on my elbows instead of with my arms extended. For some reason, this one was harder – 3:30 today.

Since getting home yesterday around noon, I feel like I have been going non-stop and today is jam-packed!!

Last night Hunter played in the district string fest – 6th, 8th and high school orchestras.It was pretty cool to hear the difference a few years can make! Plus the 6th graders are from 6 different schools in the district and only had 1 practice all together – pretty impressive!!!

[youtuber youtube=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Rh1DF4duNg’]

The finale was God Bless America (love that song!!) and all of the orchestras played together on it – I just recorded part of it since it was long.

I missed a lot over the weekend with the sleepover and all but thankfully Chris took some pictures of the cake making and birthday celebrating!!Looks like fun was had by Jordan during the afternoon and Hunter and his pals that evening!!