Tag Archives: the Firm

Daily Moves (10/26 – 11/1)

November 1, 2014 Kim 32 Comments

This week I did a new 45 every day but that was pretty much the only fitness that I was able to do. My body/mind is screaming for some cardio and sweating but……

Sunday 10/26 – 45 push-ups on the boat.

Best 45 ever because it was such a gorgeous day and I got my movement in while enjoying the last boat ride of the year!!!

Can’t beat the fresh air while doing some push-ups!!!

Monday 10/27 – 45 leg drops with a band pull.

I kept my upper body off the ground the entire time to make this move harder – it was definitely hard!!!

I did do The Firm – Cardio AbSession & Burn, Shape & Tone. This ended up being the same as the Cardio Core Fusion that I did last week with the fun pink balls –

Tuesday 10/28 – 45 side lying scissors while on wobble disc.

Over course I had to do another set while lying on the other hip.

I liked the added balance challenge from the wobble disc!!!

Wednesday 10/29 – 45 plank – partner hand slaps.

Because I’m not working out in the mornings my whole routine is off. On Wednesday I didn’t actually do my 45 until about 9:30 at night (rare to not do it first thing!!).

This move was fun to do with Jordan – he did awesome and completed all 45 with me – that’s a long time to hold plank since we counted 1 rep as 2 hand slaps!!

Thursday 10/30 – 45 bent over wide row with dumbbells (12 pounds).

up - squeeze shoulder blades — up – squeeze shoulder blades

This is one of those moves that always seems like it should be easy and it is until after about 20 reps!!!

Friday 10/31 – 45 double arm overhead press with dumbbell (15 pounds).

And, I look like the “stay-puff guy” because I have on so many layers in those pictures. Remember at the beginning of the week we were enjoying a final boat ride???

look - no shirt even! — look – no shirt even!

Well, Friday was COLD!! I spent the morning at the high school state cross country meet and needed every layer I had on plus some!!! The windchill was in the 20s!

Saturday 11/1 – 45 repeaters – knee up with a twist – knee up front = 1 rep.

Bring your knee up with a twist, return to start (tap toe if you need to), bring knee up in front for 1 rep. This move actually goes quickly and is at least a little bit of cardio.

Of course, you have to be equal and fair to your legs so set 2 is on the other leg.

By pumping my arms and moving quickly I did get my heart rate up a little for the first time in awhile!!! And, this move is great for your core because of the knee lift (get it high!!) and the twist!!!

Happy Saturday!

Kim

BOSU, Butt, Core, Fitness, Plank, Running, Triceps

A Weak Week (10/19 – 10/25)

October 25, 2014 Kim 28 Comments

This week was pretty light on the workout front. But I did get in some really fun 45s!!!

Sunday 10/19 – 45 side lunge (stay in wide position between).

I did all 45 to the left (just returning to the middle position in between. Then switched and did 45 to the right.

Monday 10/20 – 45 BOSU balances (start with hands on BOSU, feet on ground – raise right arm to side and left leg, hold then switch to left arm and right leg for 1 rep).

This move was HARD!!! I like it because it worked everything – triceps, shoulders, core, butt, quads, hamstrings….

I tried to run – 3 miles in 25:40 and then realized that my leg is hurt more than I thought so I ended up walking 4.5 miles with an incline.

Tuesday 10/21 – 45 twisting elbow planks (twist right, then left = 1 rep).

Return to middle then twist the other way –

This move was hard – 45 complete reps ended up being a long time to stay in a plank!!!!

I did a workout that I hadn’t done in a long time and it ended up being great – The Firm: Cardio Fusion. The workout uses these little balls –

I will definitely be doing this workout again!!!

Wednesday 10/22 – 45 twisting frog crunches with weighted (5 pound) punches. (right-left = 1 rep)

up - twist and punch right with left hand — up – twist and punch right with left hand

Return to the ready position and then go the other way –

I did another workout that I’ve always enjoyed – Cross Training for Fitness.

Thursday 10/23 – 45 back bow cross-over. This move is one I had never seen before until Nellie (Brooklyn Active Mama) showed it as her Weekly Wednesday workout. (another one where right-left = 1 rep)

up and squeeze - move to other side — up and squeeze

While in the up position, move your arms to other side –

moving over (dropped the legs a little:)

small break before moving back to the start — small break before coming up and moving back the other way

I might have adapted it a little (I used a wobble ball as my cross-over object instead of a yoga block) but this was a really good move!!!

Thanks to Hunter for doing the pictures for me on Friday morning since no one was around when I did the move Thursday!!!

Friday 10/24 – 45 leg abductions while balancing on upside down wobble ball.

I managed all 45 with my left leg without tapping my toe down – I wobbled and looked like a goof but…..

On this leg, I ended up tapping my toe down 2 times during the reps – my left leg balance isn’t as strong!!!

Saturday 10/25 – 45 stability ball side crunches.

After completing the first set of 45, I flipped over and did 45 more.

I’m hoping that next week I can get back to working out the way I like to work out!!!

Happy Saturday!

Kim

Core, Fitness, Plank, Running

Focus on the Core (6/15-6/21)

June 21, 2014 Kim 36 Comments

This week I decided to make the daily 44 all about core work!!! I try to do some core work every week but this week I hit it even harder.

Sunday 6/15 – 44 oblique crunches with a leg lift.

I liked this move!!! I counted a left-right as 1 rep so it turned into a total of 88 crunches!!

Monday 6/16 – 44 alternating leg kicks while in a V-sit position.

This move required a lot of balance which is even more of a core bonus!! (I counted a right-left kick as 1 rep)

Still trying to lift weights consistently so it was Chalean Extreme Burn Circuit 3 (lots of shoulder work).

I also got in a nice hard run!!!
9 miles in 57:49 (6:26 pace) followed by 1.75 easy miles. I haven’t been running hard much lately but I still try to occasionally push my pace just to make sure I still can.

Tuesday 6/17 – 44 plank hold with a double knee tap.

I must be holding my breath in the bottom picture because my face is really red – oops!!!

I decided to follow Monday’s hard run with an easier run.
10 miles in 80:07 + 1 super easy mile.

Wednesday 6/18 – 44 “rope climbs” with legs extended.

This was a great move for keeping constant tension on the abs!

Lifting day – Chalean Extreme Burn Circuit 1 (last time through this circuit – next week I will start the Push Circuit!!).

I wanted a little more after lifting so I did The Firm – Skills, Drills & Thrills. This is a nice workout with a mix of cardio and toning using the wobble disc –

Thursday 6/19 – 44 plank with elbows on the wobble disc – step out with right leg, back in then pull the right knee in – repeat on left side for 1 rep.

I should have timed how long I had to hold plank while doing this – oh, well!!

And, I’m still trying to bump my running miles up so it was another day of running.
13 miles in 1:42.13 + 1.4 easier miles.

Friday 6/20 – 44 knee crunches while holding boat pose on wobble disc.

Can you tell how hard it was to balance? My arms were flailing the entire time just trying to keep me from falling over!!!

The only workout for the day was Chalean Extreme – Burn Circuit 2 (all about biceps and triceps) – I can finally do all of the tricep push-ups on my toes!!!

I knew that I had a long day of cleaning, moving furniture and ironing ahead (8 hours is what it ended up taking) so I didn’t do any cardio after the lifting!!! That ended up being a good choice!!!

Saturday 6/21 – 44 grab & crunch with medicine ball!! This was a fun new move. Start by laying on your back with your knees at 90 and a medicine ball (I used an 8 pound ball) resting on your legs –

Crunch up and grab the medicine ball –

Take the ball with you and extend arms over head –

Crunch up and place ball back on legs to complete 1 rep –

Not only did this work my abs/core – I felt this in my hip flexors a lot!!!!

I had planned to run again but woke up with a stabbing pain in my eye (gotta love sinuses!!!) so I decided to skip the run for now.

I just realized that my total mileage for the year (hard and easy miles) is just over 900. That is more than I had for all of 2013 – maybe learning to run easier is paying off!!!

Happy Saturday!

Kim

Butt, Fitness, Hamstrings

What’s Your Minimum?

February 28, 2014 Kim 74 Comments

I used 2 of my small wobble balls again for the 44 –

This time I stood on them and did dead lifts.

This was a good challenge – staying balanced on the little balls was tricky. Dead lifts are one of my favorite moves and I loved the challenge with the balls!! 15 pound dumbbells was plenty today since I was trying to balance.

Finished the February challenge – 50 push-ups and 50 walking lunges today.

Today I did another old DVD (remember I’m trying to go through my DVD workout library this year!!!) – The Firm, Dangerous Curves Ahead. This workout uses a small band for some extra resistance!

I actually didn’t do the entire workout today. About 30 minutes in I was dragging and thinking about all the things I needed to get done before taking the boys to school so I just stopped.

Not gonna lie – it is rare for me to cut a workout short!!! And, it made me wonder – what is the minimum length to work out and count it as a workout?

I actually read a post earlier this week that was talking about running and what is your shortest distance. Now, I’m wondering about your shortest time to call a workout a workout! (Sorry, I can’t remember whose blog!!)

(Update – Miss Zippy wrote a post called When is a run a run? asking a similar question about running.)

I track all of my workouts (not just my running) and I like to keep up with how many days I actually workout. If all I do is my daily 44 then I don’t count it as a workout day. Normally I get at least an hour (or more) of working out on the days I count.

However, today I stopped the DVD around the 30 minute mark.
So, does it count??

30 minutes has always been my minimum!! I see tons of workouts that can be done in 12 minutes or 14 or 17 or 20 and I think they look like great workouts but I always feel like I have to combine several of them to actually count it as a true workout day.

I don’t have a set number of miles that I’m trying to run this year because I have learned by now that if I try to push too hard I end up injured. But, I do have a goal to workout over 300 days this year and I do use my 30 minute minimum as part of the criteria on what counts.

Do you have a minimum time that you use to count a workout – weather it’s a DVD, something from Pinterest, a walk – whatever? Or do you even track how many days you workout?

Happy Fun Friday!!

Kim

BTW – I have worked out 52 out of 59 days so far in 2014.

Calves, Fitness, Thighs

Sometimes I Need a Filter

October 18, 2013 Kim 81 Comments

Today a did a dancing inspired move for my 44. (Relax – I didn’t actually dance – that would be scary!!!) I did a plie to a releve – sounds fancy, huh?

This was actually a nice 44 – I kept a slow steady pace through the motions and really enjoyed it.

I went old-school today for my workout – The Firm – Bootcamp Maximum Calorie Burn. I have always been a fan of the The Firm workouts and this one is great – 50+ minutes of toning (fairly light weights), plyo moves and cardio segments.

Filters are useful for keeping the “bad” stuff out!!! Sometimes I forget to use the filter that controls things I say or even things that I write.

Yesterday in my post about writing like you talk one of the comments was to the effect that in writing it is easier to go back and edit things. So very true – unless for some reason you don’t. A lot of times when I’m telling Chris something about my day, I add a lot of thoughts that I didn’t really say out-loud but I sure did think them!!!! Other times, I slip and say something that if I had taken a few seconds to think through would have never come out.

When I comment on blogs, I try to really think about what I write. My goal is never to be negative or snarky on someone else’s blog.

The other night I totally blew it!!! I wrote something on impulse (no filter), clicked publish (or whatever the button is) and immediately regretted it. The sad thing is, you can’t delete a comment on someone else’s site. (I did go back and type a reply saying that I was sorry and should have never left the comment I did but still…..)

I love the little reminder about thinking!!! I try to always keep it in mind especially when I comment on other blogs because I really believe that everyone is entitled to write whatever they feel/believe on their site and it is not my place to judge or be rude.

Have you ever left a comment and then immediately regretted it?

Happy Fun Friday!!! I’m off to replace my filter!!!

Kim

Day With KT

Tag Archives: the Firm

Daily Moves (10/26 – 11/1)

A Weak Week (10/19 – 10/25)

Focus on the Core (6/15-6/21)

What’s Your Minimum?

Sometimes I Need a Filter

Fitness – Food – Fun