Tag Archives: push-ups

What do I do with this thing??

April 9, 2013 Kim 22 Comments

Today’s 43 was Jordan’s idea!! He suggested this on Saturday morning but I decided to save it until today! Since he came up with the idea, I ~~made~~ let him do the demo for me!!

The move – a push-up with a double jump squat x 43!

[youtuber youtube=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=huqYmBztdq4′]

So, I didn’t do it exactly like Jordan – I stepped back into the push-ups instead of jumping. I didn’t want to do them burpee style because I really wanted to make sure that I had good form on all 43 of the push-ups! This one was a nice mix of upper body, lower body and cardio – great idea, Jordan!!!

The rest of my workout was fun – Turbo Jam style – Cardio Party 2. I can’t say it often enough – I love to work out with Chalean!!!

So, over spring break (we stayed home and it wasn’t very spring-like since it snowed) I pulled out a puzzle. I thought the boys might help – Hunter helped with the edge pieces and Jordan would periodically come in a tell me how hard puzzles are!! The puzzle that I started was 3000 pieces!!! It took me 2.5 weeks but I finally finished it – The problem now is what to do with it. I don’t want to take it apart yet – too much work putting it together. But… it is on our dining room table. We have glued puzzles before (and had them framed) but I don’t know where I would put this one – it’s huge 4′ x 2’7″. So, for now it is still on the table!!!

Do you like puzzles? What is the biggest one you have ever put together? (I think this was the biggest one I’ve ever done.)

Happy Tuesday!!! I’m spending the day subbing 5th grade!!!

Kim

Fitness, Push-Ups, Running, Treadmill

Going Through the Motions

April 1, 2013 Kim 18 Comments

Today I decided it was time for another push-up move for the 43. I alternated moving one hand in front to do a push-up.

Because I wasn’t thinking clearly (or something!) I decided to count a right hand in front and left hand in front

as 1 rep. Crikey!!! Instead of 43 push-ups, I ended up doing 86!!!

[youtuber youtube=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nY0UNGVfclw’]

Hunter is turning into a push-up machine!! He did the number of push-ups to correspond with the day of the month every day for the month of March (31 last night!!).

Today I decided to get in a good run! I ran on my treadmill (1.5% incline) – 8 miles 52:39 + 1.75 miles easier for a total of 77:15 minutes. Hopefully later this week I will be outside running in shorts!!!

Do you ever feel like you are just going through the motions? It could be with anything – working out, shopping, spending time with your family – whatever. Just that feeling inside that says you should be doing more!!

We used to have a little dwarf hamster, Emma,

who looked similar to the picture above. She would get on her hamster wheel and just go and go (speedy little thing!) – but she wasn’t really making any progress.

Sometimes I feel like Emma the hamster – I just go and go, but what am I accomplishing? If you’ve read my blog for awhile, you know that I just recently passed my ACE Personal Training test. But I haven’t done anything with it and I’m not sure if I’m going to. I’m still trying to decide what I want to do with my life.

I love the time I get to spend with Chris and my boys and try to treasure every second of it. But I feel like I should be doing more with my life! The problem is, I don’t know what it is that I should be doing!!

I’m pretty sure that my newest addiction (thanks Keri and Vickie!!)isn’t enough to satisfy my need to feel like I’m accomplishing something every day! It is a fun thing to do on a short car trip, though!

I guess I will just keep trying to figure it out!!

On a completely different note – did anyone see the Louisville vs. Duke basketball game yesterday evening? When Kevin Ware snapped his leg, my first thought was for his parents – I can’t even begin to imagine watching that happen to my child!!! I just read an article saying he had emergency surgery and a rod was inserted into his leg. I hope he is able to make a full recovery and return to the court next season!!!

Spring flowers from friends who came over yesterday!!!

Anyone else ever feel like you are just going through the motions until you figure out what your true purpose is? Maybe you could just tell me you are so I won’t feel like the only grown-up who is still unsure what to be!!

Happy Monday – April Fool’s Day!!

Kim

Fitness, Push-Ups

Balls + Records = Jelly

March 13, 2013 Kim 12 Comments

YIKES!!! Today’s 43 was rough and brutal and hard!!! I got this move from Jody at Truth2BeingFit. I don’t know how she made it look so easy cause it is anything but!

Start with 3 medicine balls.

Put 1 under each hand and then try (key word – try) and balance both feet on the 3rd ball. Seriously, just holding this position was hard.

The actual move is a push-up!! x 43

[youtuber youtube=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9HNWRSJJUb0′]

I would rather do the 4-ball push-up any day!!! The narrow feet (on the same ball) makes this move so much harder! I lost count of how many times I fell off!

So, what are you doing sitting here reading – go try this move – I know you want to!!!

Today I pulled out another DVD that I haven’t done in awhile – Turbo Jam – Cardio Party 3. This is another series that Chalean Johnson does and I love her workouts. Always high energy and fun music! Sometimes she gets a little dancey for me – I just add in extra jumps when that happens and it works out perfectly!

I decided to challenge myself today with a plank hold and wall-sit (cause sometimes I’m ~~stupid~~ crazy like that!!).

I like to do planks with my arms fully extended (like might not be exactly the right word – but it is how I usually do them).

not from today but only picture I could find

Since I did these after the boys were at school – there are no pictures from today!! I wanted to find one of me in plank and this was as close as I got.

Plank Time – 3:30

Then I decided to see how long I could last in a wall-sit (cause I figured why not at this point!!).

Wall-Sit Time – 3:00

And now – my arms and legs are jelly!!!

Do you do little self-challenges? Share if you do (I might like to join in on the fun!).

Happy Wednesday!

Kim

BOSU, Core, Fitness, Push-Ups, Shoulders

Short but Intense Workouts (HIIT)

March 2, 2013 Kim 6 Comments

Since Chris is at drill this weekend and the boys decided to both sleep in (which left me with no one to film me), I did my 43 after the rest of my workout – big mistake!!! (or maybe I should have picked an easier 43….)

I pulled out my BOSU (yippee) and used it like this today.

I did a push-up then plank walked 1/4 around the BOSU for the next push-up and continued until I had complete 43 push-ups. The hard part was trying to keep my body stretched out in plank and not hike my butt in the air.

[youtuber youtube=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eg9GTkuDVsw’]

The demo today is actually my final four (#s 40, 41, 42 & 43) – good thing because you can tell that my form is going downhill fast!!

My workout today (completed before the 43) was Les Mills Combat Power HIIT. This is probably the Combat workout that is the hardest for me! It is only 30 minutes so you would think it’s no big deal – but you would be wrong!! The first section consists of power moves that integrate lower body and upper body (mainly shoulders) using dumbbells (I’ve been using 15 pound DBs for this). Then there is a fast pace plyo section with jumping sumo squats and jumping lunges included. The final standing section is burpees with squat jumps or tuck jumps (I mix it up). Then a plank section which is killer! The best part? The cool down/stretch!

Every time I finish the Power HIIT work-out I feel like I have really accomplished something. At the very least, I know that I have pushed myself as hard as I can!!!

HIIT – high intensity interval training

I love HIIT workouts especially on days where I’m limited with time. I used to think that if I didn’t work out at least an hour it wasn’t really a workout. Since I’ve discovered the love of HIIT, I’ve completely changed my mind. 30 minutes is probably about the max for HIIT if you give 100%. (at least for me!)

Gotta get moving with the day!! Sun is shining and it is supposed to be above freezing today – WooHoo!!!

Happy Saturday! Try some HIIT if you are short on time today!

Kim

Cardio, Fitness, Pull-Ups

Spider Walking

February 15, 2013 Kim 9 Comments

Don’t be scared!!!

(Sorry, hope spiders don’t gross you out!!! I find them fascinating!!!)

Today’s 43 was one of those that worked pretty much every inch of my body!!! Spider walking!!! Fun stuff for sure!!!

Start in plank or push-up position. Walk your opposite knee and hand forward while dropping your body lower – repeat with other side – continue!

[youtuber youtube=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-n3DRMobVYk’]

Jordan has pretty good form – don’t you think??

I counted 3 forward walks on each side (I think that is what Jordan did in the demo, too) as 1 rep then I stood, turned and went the other direction for the next one until I reached the magic # of 43!!! I felt this in my arms, shoulders, core, hip flexors and quads!!!! How’s that for a 5-1 combo move?!

Today I was back to Les Mills Combat with a new work-out: Combat 60 Live – Ultimate Warrior! This has to be my favorite one yet!!! First off, besides the Combat crew, there were about 400 people doing the work-out with them! Second, this work-out was HARD and very intense!!! The 60 minutes went by very quickly because, like all of their work-outs, it is broken into segments and you can see the segment (and total) time at the bottom of the screen.

What I really liked was the fact that there were some new moves and combos in this one!! Plus, the cool-down was different from the others but very effective!!!

Love trying new work-outs!!!

It’s hard to see but this skirt would have been great for yesterday. Running love!! Maybe next year I will do a Valentine’s day run!!

Hooray for a LONG weekend!!! The boys have 5 days out of school (they were out yesterday, too) because of parent/teacher conferences and an inservice on Monday. Chris is off today (SDO – scheduled day off. They work 9 hour days and then have an SDO every other week – pretty cool.) and Monday for President’s Day!WooHoo!! Love it when every one is off!!!

And, finally – 15th day of February and I’m still doing the number of wall-sits to sync up with the day – today I’ve completed 15 1-minute wall-sits. Not gonna lie – it is getting hard!!! I have to spread them out a little more. (I make tally marks as I do them so I don’t lose count and cheat or do any extra!!!) Hunter & Chris are participating, too!!! Hunter does burpees every day and Chris is doing push-ups daily!!! (Jordan opted out – party pooper!!)

Happy Fun Friday!!!

Kim

Day With KT