Tag Archives: Turbo Fire

Some of My Favorite Workouts

March 17, 2015 Kim 75 Comments

For years the only type of working out I did was running. Now I love trying new exercises and workouts.

I thought it would be fun to share some of my favorite ways to workout. I can’t share all of them because this post would go on for way too long!

1. 10 Minute Solutions workouts – I like the variety in all of these workouts. Some are mostly cardio, some are toning and some are a perfect mix of everything!

2. Jari Love Get Ripped DVDs – these are weight training workouts that focus on high reps.

3. TaeBo – sometimes old school is the best!!!

4. Various workouts on my Pinterest board – many from blogging friends.

5. Jillian Michaels workouts – I feel like I get a good workout with all of Jillian’s workouts. I think sometimes her cuing isn’t great and she doesn’t always make sure both sides get equal work but I can work with those issues.

6. Chalean Extreme – the first time I did this program was the first time I really pushed myself to lift heavier weights!!!

7. Les Mills Combat – these workouts are just fun!!!

8. Insanity – this is definitely hard work but I love that it is cardio and toning with no equipment required.

9. Turbo Fire (and Turbo Jam) – working with Chalean is my favorite! She makes every workout fun and the time passes quickly.

10. Running!!!

Bonus: I really enjoy my daily moves! Doing these has really forced me to try new moves and do different things which I think is great for my body.

What is your favorite way to workout?

Happy Wednesday!

Kim

BOSU, Butt, Calves, Cardio, Core, Fitness, Lunges, Quad, Running

Increasing the Daily Reps (9/14 – 9/20)

September 20, 2014 Kim 32 Comments

This week saw in a change in daily moves from 44 to 45. What’s one more rep of anything?!

Sunday 9/14 – 44 heel raises while doing a wall sit and holding up a 20 pound kettle bell.

Not gonna lie – my quads were burning by the time I finished these!!

Monday 9/15 – 44 super burpee (had to have something big for my last Daily 44.)

To do the move: jump back into plank – push-up – jump legs in and right – jump back to plank – jump legs in and left – jump back to plank – jump feet in to hands – jump back to plank – plank jack – jump up to standing – do 8 fast feet. Hooray – 1 rep is done!!!

10 of these would have been OK but 44 was tough!!!

And I’m finally back to normal workouts!!! I started a new program – PIYO – Align the Fundamentals. Not sure how much I’m going to like it but I will give it a try!!!

Tuesday 9/16 – 45 minutes of running (to see how far I could get).

I did 7.43 miles in 45 minutes (7:23, 6:17, 5:51, 5:34, 5:39, 5:54, 5:50 and 6:01 to finish the 8th mile)

I haven’t run hard like this in awhile so I paid the price for this run for the rest of the week – stairs were rough until yesterday and my shins were very tight!!!

Wednesday 9/17 – 45 crunches while on a BOSU with a stability ball between the ankles.

You can see in the pictures that I had to keep my hands on the side of the BOSU – I didn’t hold the entire time but I sure did have to hold a lot for balance!!!

I also did 2 more of the PIYO workouts – Define Lower Body and Define Upper Body.

Thursday 9/18 – 45 plie with hands touching the floor – spring up onto toes and reach hands up.

up onto toes - reach hands up — up onto toes – reach hands up

This was another day of PIYO – Sweat. I looked ahead at the way the program is laid out and it just repeats the same workouts from this week over and over for a few weeks – not sure that I will do this program as it is written!!!

Friday 9/19 – 45 curtsey lunge with hop to opposite leg and another curtsey lunge – stay low the entire time. (right-left = 1 rep)

Then I did one of my favorite workouts – Turbo Fire!!! I did Fire 55EZ (not to be confused with easy!!). Fun way to start the day.

Saturday 9/20 – 45 mountain climbers in low plank.

I let Hunter do the demo since he is the one who told me about this lovely move!!! It was hard but I liked it!!!

So, this wasn’t a super hard week of workouts but it was nice to be back in the routine!!!

Happy Saturday!

Kim

Fitness, Resistance Bands, Running

Working the Band (4/27-5/3)

May 3, 2014 Kim 36 Comments

This week’s 44s were all about using this little band –

Since I was in Texas for the first part of the week, this was a perfect tool to use! And, all of my pictures were taken either Thursday or Friday morning after I was home – I did the moves on the actual day though!!!

Sunday 4/27 –44 bicep curl with a lunge (hold the other end of the band up over shoulder for extra resistance.

And, of course, I had to do a 2nd set of 44 with my left side.

I also did Turbo Fire Tone 30 which is 30 minutes of full body toning using bands.

Monday 4/28 – 44 tricep kickbacks in plank.

These were challenging – to try and keep my body straight, hold plank with one arm and do 44 kickbacks with resistance!!! And, I had to do a 2nd set!!!

I did TaeBo Fat Blasting Cardio (another portable workout!!) and a nice easy 30 minute run (probably only 3 miles).

Tuesday 4/29 – 44 lateral raise with opposite side leg lift.

ready to raise right arm & lift the left leg

I love moves that work on balance!!! And, I try to stay balanced so I had another set of 44.

The rest of my workout was TaeBo Insane Abs (50 minutes of nonstop core work!) and a super easy 50 minute run (about 5 miles).

Wednesday 4/30 – 44 abdominal presses with the band.

This move will definitely get your core burning!!!

I just did a 75 minute easy run (7.5-8 miles).

Thursday 5/1 – 44 squat with bicep curl (band crossed for extra resistance).

Can you tell that I was all about multi-functional exercises for the week?

Since I was back home on my treadmill I decided to do a harder run – 10 miles in 79:54 + 1.5 miles easy.

Friday 5/2 – 44 overhead press with opposite leg stepping back to a lunge.

Another move that required a 2nd set!!!

This move was hard – gotta keep working my shoulders!!!

It was also a run day – 6 miles in 47:52 + 2.5 easy miles.

Saturday 5/3 – 44 sumo squat with a chest fly (standing).

ready - choke up on the band — ready – choke up on the band

Right arm done – time for the left!

Today was a fun running day – Hunter’s long run! He had 95 minutes on the schedule. We kept our 5 minute run/1 minute walk and ended up with 10 miles in 93:40!!! Even with the walking he is still averaging 9:22 a mile (the same pace he had last week when we did 9 miles!!). He is doing such a great job with his training for the half marathon!

Total Running – 41.5 + 4.5 easy for a total of 46. Not sure that is great since one week from today I plan to run further at one time than I went all week – I think I’m ready though!

Happy Saturday!!

Kim

Core, Fitness, Foam Roller, Running

Planks, Planks and more Planks (4/6-4/12)

April 12, 2014 Kim 48 Comments

This week the daily 44 was all about trying new plank variations – fun times for sure!!!

Sunday 4/6 – 44 plank with opposite arm/leg reach and crunch. This one took a LOT of balance but it was fun!!!

Of course, after I did one set of 44 I had to switch sides and do another set.

Not gonna lie, this move was a challenge!!!

And, Sunday was Hunter’s first long run for his half marathon training. It was 50 minutes. We did a 4 minute run and 1 minute walk (we will probably do this for at least a month on the long runs since he had never run over 3 miles before starting this!).

4.78 miles total

Monday 4/7 – 44 plank with feet on wobble balls, alternate step offs. (right foot off – right foot on, left foot off – left foot on = 1 rep)

Back to plank with both feet on.

I liked this plank move but it was a long time to hold plank!!!

Run – 8 miles (63:50) + 1.25 easy miles

Tuesday 4/8 – 44 side plank with rotation (elbow to ground)

And, you know that I can’t be lopsided so I had another set of 44.

This move was hard – sometimes I think that holding plank on the elbow is just as hard as holding it on your hand!!!

Another day, another run! 7 miles (54:04) + 0.5 miles easy

Wednesday 4/9 – 44 rocking planks with hands on foam roller (my favorite move of the week!).

This one must have been easier than some of the other options of the week because I really enjoyed it!!!

The morning workout was all about Turbo Fire. I did Upper 20, Lower 20 and Core 20 for a nice hour that worked my entire body using bands!!!

Red band - upper and core Green band - lower — Red band – upper and core
Green band – lower

Wednesday afternoon we went on a family run. Hunter and I had 35 minutes on tap and Chris and Jordan tagged along for some of the run.

35 minutes – 3.5 miles

Thursday 4/10 – 44 corkscrew planks. This move I got from Nellie (Brooklyn Active Mama) and it was HARD!!! Basically from the plank position, you twist your body so that your right arm goes underneath you and you drop your hips. When you return to plank, lift your right leg.

After ~~suffering through~~ completing all the reps on one side, switch sides and let the fun begin again!

I struggled a lot to finish but I made it through all of the reps – thankfully!

Then I ran 11 miles – (86:52) + 0.5 easy miles.

Friday 4/11 – 44 plank with moving dumbbell. This is a move that Monique (Burpees to Bubbly) had as part of a 3-2-1 workout the other day!

Basically, you start in plank with a dumbbell outside of your right hand (I used 12 pounds). With your right hand, move the DB between your hands (return to plank). Take your left hand and move the DB outside of your left hand (return to plank). Reverse the move to complete 1 rep.

Trying to keep the rest of my body still was HARD!!!

The workout was fun – Turbo Jam – Turbo Sculpt. This workout is a fun way to get in some toning with Chalean. She suggested 3-5 pound dumbbells for females but I went with 8s – it was a challenge!!!

And, after school, Hunter and I (Jordan joined us for about half) had another run! This was supposed to be a 30 minute run. We ended up running faster than we have been.

3.37 miles in 28:26 (8:26 pace). We picked up the pace every mile – hooray for Hunter!!!

Saturday 4/12 – 44 pike planks on the stability ball. So, maybe these were the hardest move of the week -not sure but they were definitely challenging!!!

Lots of wobbling to complete 44 reps of this move!

And, another day of running (I’m on a major streak right now!!) – 7 miles in 47:51 + 0.65 easy miles.

I’m loving the extra running with Hunter right now – good for preparing for my big race that is 4 weeks from today!!!

Total miles for the week – 43.87 + 3.68 easy one = 47.55

Do you like planks? Do you have some new variations I need to try?

Happy Saturday!!

Kim

Biceps, Core, Fitness, Running, Shoulders, Treadmill, Triceps

It’s All About the Weights, Running, Moving

April 5, 2014 Kim 55 Comments

So the title is my poor attempt at a catchy song – but I think I’ve always said it wrong!! I thought it was supposed to be, “It’s all about the money, money, money.” Ummm….maybe it’s supposed to be “It’s NOT about the money, money, money.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JlKA3a11CRw

Oh, well – this week has been all about weights and running!!!

Sunday 3/30 – 44 stacked leg oblique crunches with dumbbell (15 pound)

start - right leg on top — start – right leg on top

After doing 44 to the left, I switched my top leg and crunched the other direction.

Reaching with the dumbbell made this move a challenge!!!

I ran 9 miles (72:51) + 1 easy mile. Trying to continue to increase my miles for about another month (big race coming up!!).

Monday 3/31 – 44 alternating shoulder press while standing on wobble balls. I used 10 pound dumbbells and that was hard by the end!

I love using the wobble balls for moves like this because you have to keep a slight bend in your knew to hold the balance and that helps take pressure off of your low back!!!

This was also a running day!!! 8 miles (59:57) plus 2 nice and easy miles.

Tuesday 4/1 – 44 combo shoulder/arm move (5 pound dumbbells – this was hard plenty!) Start with palms facing body –

ready (don't forget to look bored!) — ready (don’t forget to look bored!)

Raise arms straight up in front –

Rotate weights so that your palms are facing down –

Pull arms back (squeeze your shoulder blades together) –

Lower arms down to side –

Curl arms down so that you are back to the start position.

I liked this move – it was a great way to work my entire upper body!!!

I needed a little break from running so I did a 10 Minute Solution DVD – Sculpt, Tone and Reshape with the Figure 8.

There are so many fun moves with this band – I love what a great workout you can get with it. This DVD was just over 50 minutes and I worked my entire body!!!

Wednesday 4/2 – 44 triceps kickbacks (10 pound dumbbells)

This was a challenge with the amount of weight I used but I don’t want to have saggy arms!!!

I did Shelly McDonald (a Caribbean workout) Core Pilates. I had a horrible headache (woke up around 1:00 am with it and it never went away) so I thought some pilates would be a good choice. I made it through almost the whole hour before I quit!

Thursday 4/3 – 44 side bend with shoulder press (8 pound dumbbells).

down with right hand, really reach up with left hand

After doing 44 to one side, I had to switch and do another set!

By the time I finished, I had worked not only my core but also my shoulders – just holding an 8 pound weight up for the entire time was a workout!!!

I did a double run on Thursday to break in my new shoes!!! Well, really just to get used to running on tired legs but….

new shoes - Mizuno Wave Prophecy 3 — new shoes – Mizuno Wave Prophecy 3

First run – 10 miles (79:24) plus 1.15 easy.
Second run about an hour and a half later – 5 miles (36:53) plus 2.35 miles at a nice pace.
Total – 15 miles of hard running and 3.5 easier miles!

Friday 4/4 – 44 bicep curls in Warrior I (5 pound dumbbells).

I had to do another set after I finished 44 that way!!

5 pounds doesn’t seem like much until you do a total of 88 bicep curls and keep your arms extended out the entire time – then it feels like at least 20 pounds!!!

The workout was a fun one – Turbo Jam – Cardio Party 3. 50 minutes of pure fun with Chalean and her crew!!!

Saturday 4/5 – 44 lateral raise on wobble balls (first 22 with 8 pounds, second 22 with 5 pounds).