Today I did a 44 that was all about the core (and a nice stretch for my back!!). I used my stability ball – and did a roll-over.
Start with the ball between your feet and your legs in the air.
ready to roll
Slowly, without using your hands to push off the floor, lift your hips and roll back.
back
Then, bring your legs back to the start position in a controlled manner – don’t just let them flop back down. Great for the whole core – back included!
And, because it makes me happy, I did Turbo Fire – Fire 45! There is no way to be in a bad mood working out with Chalean. The music is great and her energy is contagious!!!
Last night we went to Hunter’s Parent/Teacher Conference at the middle school. The middle school is set up in teams so the core teachers rotate in and out of the room during your conference time. It’s a great system because in about a 20 minute conference, you are able to meet with all of the teachers!!
Hunter is actually on the same team that Jordan was in 7th grade.Only one of the teachers is new this year so they all remember Jordan.
Last night, every single one of the teachers said such nice things about Hunter and Jordan!!! They complimented Chris and I on how we have raised them.
One teacher said she really wished we had more kids coming through.
The teachers were all happy with how Hunter does in class (he had all A+s or As) but even more pleased with the fine young man he is. Every one of them mentioned the fact that he greets them by name when he walks into their classrooms each day and says “bye” or “have a nice day” or something when he leaves their room for the day.
They also said that both boys seem to be very happy and emotionally stable (which is a big deal in middle school!!!).
Even when you think you are doing a semi-OK job with your kids, it is always nice to hear from their teachers that they think the same thing.
And, just for fun, here is a picture of Hunter last night for his cello group. They all decided to wear costumes since they won’t have group next week on Halloween. See if you can figure out Hunter’s costume.
Happy Fun Friday!!!
Kim
PS – do you get it? Hunter is supposed to be his cello and his cello is “dressed” as him!!!
Today’s 43 looks deceptively simple!!! The move is primarily geared to work your rotator cuff but after about 20 reps your entire arm will start to feel the burn!!
Start by laying on your side with a light weight (I used 5 pounds) in your top hand.
right side
Rotate your arm about 90 degrees, keeping your elbow tight to your body.
rotate up
See how simple it looks?! Try some!!! And don’t forget to work both sides!
ready for side 2go
Sometimes the littlest moves have the biggest benefits!!!
Today I did a favorite workout – Turbo Fire – Fire 55. This workout is almost an hour (55 minutes) of fast paced cardio and it is super fun every single time!!!
There are so many reasons that people exercise – some people do it only because they feel like they have to or that they should, some people do it to try and be skinny – There are some who exercise not to be skinny but to lose weight – Many people exercise or workout because they are training for something – a race, a competition of some sort, a particular event – And there are people who exercise just to become more fit – The reason people exercise often affects the enjoyment that they actually get from working out. When the goal is to be skinny or lose weight and results aren’t immediate it can be very frustrating.
Working out because you are training for something can take away some of the fun of exercising especially if you don’t perform exactly the way you had hoped to. And, following a specific training plan sometimes becomes monotonous and saps all the joy and love of the exercise.
Some people workout just because they love the way it makes them feel – the release of endorphins after a hard workout is worth the struggles and temporary pain!!! That feeling of pushing yourself to your very limit and then just going a little bit further is such an amazing thing! And getting a good sweat on is awesome!!!
I work out because I love it. I love knowing that there is very little that I can’t do if I just put my mind to it. Pushing myself to the breaking point is the way I keep challenging myself to become the very best form of me that I can be.
Today I started with a plan for my 43 and ended up having to do an extremely modified version!!! I used my BOSU & stability ball for some hard-core push-ups!!
I put my legs on the stability ball and my hands on the upside down BOSU to do push-ups. Not easy because the BOSU wobbles when it is upside down and the stability ball wants to roll every where – good for the core though because you have to work so hard just to maintain your balance.
My original plan was to put just my feet on the stability ball and roll the ball in close so that the push-up was more of a pike position – Um…..that move needs some serious work!!!
I did one of my favorite workouts – Turbo Fire!!! Today I did Fire 45 – 45 minutes of nonstop cardio that is super fun because Chalean keeps the energy high and the music going!
September – so many fun and exciting things coming up this month!!
1. Friday night high school football games – Jordan is in marching band and has his first game in just a few days!!
marching band
2. Cross country meets – Hunter is running middle school cross country. The meets are on Saturday mornings, Tuesday afternoons, a Wednesday meet (it varies). He has 6-8 meets in the next month!!!
one of my favorite sports!!
3. Texas Longhorn football!!! College football is back and I’m hoping that the Longhorns have a better season than they have the past few years.
supporting the Horns even when dressed for church!
They are off to a good start with a 56-7 win last night!!! Hook ’em Horns!!!
4. This is the first month of our new business! This month we have several weddings/receptions booked and I’m going to work on some of my plans to add in more events at our venue!!!
5. In 2 short weeks (just 14 more days!) I will have accomplished 2 huge goals:
365 consecutive daily 43s
365 days with a daily blog post
6. And – IT’S MY BIRTHDAY MONTH!!! 2 weeks from tomorrow I will start in with a new goal and a new challenge – Daily 44s starting with my birthday run – 44 miles!!!!
Today’s 43 was one that I’ve never tried but need to do more often. It was a front wall squat. I need lots more practice because I can’t go down very far without toppling over.
Start with your toes against the wall –
start
(you can barely see me – the bright light worked against the picture but too late now!!)
Slide down into a squat keeping your knees and hands against (or near) the wall –
slide down
You can tell from the picture (barely) that I couldn’t even get down to 90 degrees – so a good 43 but one that definitely needs work! I liked the fact that performing this type of squat added in a balance challenge!
And, because we actually slept in a little, I decided to keep my workout inside because the humidity is killing me when I run here. I did Turbo Fire – Sculpt 30. This was a great workout today since I haven’t gotten much strength work this week!! You use the Turbo Fire band
Turbo Fire Band
for a full body strength workout!!
love the sunshine
For the past week, it has been easy to love life – because we’ve been at the beach (2 more days!!!)! And, I’m pretty sure that by now it is a well established fact that the beach is my true HAPPY PLACE!!!
Life is perfect here!!
However, in my “real life” back home in Kansas, life isn’t always sunny!! There are days that look a lot like this –
grey
And, some days are just kind of drippy!However, I can finally say that no matter what the weather and other circumstances that come along – I LOVE MY LIFE!!!
That hasn’t always been the case! In high school, I think I just existed. I loved running track and I enjoyed school but the rest of it was just something to be survived.
College was 4 years of fun even though I worked hard to maintain a track and academic scholarship and then added in a job my senior year. But, I still wasn’t completely at peace with myself.
I spent a number of years trying to find happiness through other people instead of looking for it inside of myself.
I thought that the people I surrounded myself and hung out with controlled my happiness.
I even struggled when we had kids – I thought that being a Mom should make me happy all the time – that kids meant sunshine 100% of the time!!!
So, it has taken 43 years to finally get to the point where I am completely content during the sunny times and the not so sunny times.
And, as long as I know that there is always time at the beach to look forward to, my life is full of sunshine!!
sunset with cloud cover
Do you love your life in all types of weather or just during the sunny/happy times?
While I was working out today I could feel myself settle into to my happy place because I was finally working out again (first time since Monday!)!!!
