Valentine’s Day workout

In light of V-Day, I worked my heart with more cardio. It definitely wasn’t as intense as yesterday’s, but I still got my sweat on. I was all by myself today, since the workout buddy was at the birth of her niece. I did 3 sets of this workout and still got out of the gym in 30 minutes, proving you don’t have to waste a lot of time to get healthy.  Do the whole set without stopping to make sure you get the most out of your workout. Rest when you’ve completed the set, but not for too long.

• 50 jumping jacks
• 20 backward lunges
• 10 crunches
• 20 squats
• 60 sec plank
• 10 sumo squats
• 40 jumping jacks
• 20 sec mountain climbers
• 25 push ups
• 30 sec plank

I modified it a bit to make it harder for myself. I did the last 10 jumping jacks as air jacks in each set, I carried a 10 lb weight in all the lunges, squats and crunches, and I elevated my legs for the plank. Modify how you need to, or just do it as is.

Happy sweating!

No Excuses

There are two things I absolutely hate when it comes to diet and exercise. The first thing is quick fixes, which I’ve already written about, and the second is excuses. I hate to be cliche (alright, I kind of love to be cliche), but here you go: excuses are like a$$holes, everyone’s got one and they all stink. There is only one reason not to work out and that is your doctor has told you not to. Not your mom, not your friend, not your inner voices, your doctor. Here are some of the worst, and of course I’m going to tell you why they are full of crap.

I don’t have time. Oh really? You can’t take 30 minutes three days a week out of your incredibly busy schedule for your health? Why don’t you add up the time you spend on Facebook/Twitter/Pinterest/any other popular social media, and I can probably guarantee it adds up to more than 30 minutes. Also, look at the time your butt is sitting on your couch when you come home. That reason right there is probably why you’re in the health predicament you’re in right now anyway. Here’s my suggestion to you: take three to four days and write down everything you do and how long it takes you to do it. DON’T LIE!! I promise you there will be 30 minutes of crap that you can cut out of your daily routine. Your body will thank you for it. (But don’t cut reading my blog because its only going to help you ;)) And really, 30 minutes a day, three times a week is all it takes to get healthier. Its not that big of a time commitment.

I’m a mother/father and devote all my energy to my kids. Guess what? I’m a mother, too, and I know that my kid will appreciate the fact that I take care of myself. You may devote all your energy to your kids right now, but if you don’t focus some of that on your health, you won’t be doing much with them later on in life. Don’t you want to be able to climb the stadium stairs to watch your son play in that high school playoff game? Don’t you want to dance with your daughter at her wedding without gasping for air? And not to be harsh, but don’t you want to be alive for those things? Being overweight and having a sedentary (no activity) lifestyle are two major risk factors for heart disease. Instead of watching tv at night with your kids, why don’t you take a walk together? You are killing two birds with one stone…exercise and spending quality time with your kids. When you take them to the park, instead of sitting on a bench perusing Facebook or texting your friend (that’s right, I see you guys), get up and run around with them. Take them to a gym (if they are old enough) and get on a treadmill together. Being a mother/father doesn’t have to mean giving up everything, including your health, for your kids.

Exercise is painful. So don’t do the exercises that hurt. And if you’re talking about soreness, get over it. That kind of pain is your body telling you something is changing. A good change. No one has ever died from sore legs b/c they did lunges the day before. (At least not that I know of.) If you’re not in a little pain while you’re working out (and to be clear, I’m not talking about knee or shoulder joint pain), then you’re not working hard enough to change your body. If you are in the kind of pain that stems from old injuries, find an exercise that doesn’t exacerbate that pain. Talk to a trainer or a doctor to find out what you can do, because there are things you can do. Swimming is probably the best type of exercise for those whose joints hurt. And find something that you enjoy. One of the worst things in the world is doing something you hate. So don’t do those workouts, and find something else.

I can’t afford it. You do not have to join a gym to get a good workout. I trained a woman at my house today with nothing but a step stool, 5 lb weights and the floor. You don’t even have to use actual weights…find something in your house that weighs 5 lbs. The milk jug for instance. Your own body weight is perfect to workout with. Lunges, squats, push-ups, planks, tricep dips, and sit ups are all things that require NO EQUIPMENT. You can afford it, so stop being so cheap.

I’m too tired. If you can push yourself to workout 30 minutes before you go to bed or when you wake up in the morning, after a few days, you will have more energy. I know it sounds backwards, but its true. And you will sleep better at night, so you’ll be less tired during the day. Oh, and cut the sugar out of your diet. Its making you tired.

I’ve tried everything and nothing works. You clearly haven’t tried EVERYTHING. You probably tried some things for a short time, expected quick results, and when you didn’t get them, you quit. It takes at least 4 weeks to see a change. It takes 8 weeks to improve strength, and it takes 12 weeks to improve body fat percentage. Quit looking for the easy way out and stick to something.

Working out sucks. So does dying.

Here’s the deal. If you have to come up with an excuse not to work out, you obviously don’t want to. Don’t lie to yourself and don’t lie to me. Until you want to, you’ll never do it.  You don’t want to look back on your life from a hospital bed thinking that you coulda, shoulda, woulda. So find the desire, find the motivation, give yourself a good swift kick in the a$$ and get healthy!!

Happy sweating!

2/13/12 Workout

This workout is what I like to call Cardio Hell. I thought my lungs were going to explode at one point. Tracy and I worked it out like rock starts…well, maybe a little like old aging rock stars that haven’t rocked in a while. We both wanted to start this week b**s to the wall and I came up with a winner.

• 50 jumping jacks
• 30 second jump rope
• 20 alternating lunges w/ bicep curl, 10lbs (this was a little too much)
• 30 sec jump rope
• 10 tuck jumps
• 30 sec jump rope
• 20 squats, 10 lb weight
• 30 sec jump rope
• 60 sec high knees (by this time we were both dripping with sweat)
• 30 sec jump rope
• 10 squat jumps onto a platform (Tracy has bad knees, so she did these on the floor. Good modification)
• 30 sec jump rope
• 10 burpees (my lungs are on fire!)
• 30 sec jump rope
• 60 jumping jacks
• 30 sec jump rope
• 20 sec mountain climbers
• 30 sec jump rope
• 25 push-ups
• 30 sec jump rope
• 60 sec elevated plank (modify to fit your fitness level, a level plank is just fine)

Seriously, y’all need to try this Cardio Hell. I hated it but I’m definitely doing it again. I need to train for the Warrior Dash coming up in April and this is awesome since it gets your heart rate high and brings it down then brings it up again.

Happy sweating!

2/09/12 workout

First workout back from Costa Rica…and I’m feeling a little unmotivated. Tracy, my wonderful workout buddy, reminded me that once I got back into the gym, I’d feel much better, and she was right. This is why you have a workout buddy, people. To remind you that your ass didn’t get that fabulous sitting on the couch. (Quick note about Tracy. I feel the need to address this since I’ve been calling her Preggo and it would be confusing if you didn’t know this. Unfortunately, she is no longer pregnant. It wasn’t something she did or didn’t do, it just wasn’t the right timing for her body. She is a very strong woman and is determined to bounce back from this even stronger, and I can’t tell you how much I admire her.)

So our workout today was a bit light, but still ended with us sweaty and breathing hard.

• 10 minute warm-up on the treadmill, 3.5 speed
• On a bench, quick step-ups, 30 seconds
• Elevated front leg-lunge, 15 seconds each side
• Elevated back leg-lunge, 15 seconds each side
• Alternating side step-ups, 30 seconds
• Screamers, 30 second/leg
• push-ups on a bench, 30 seconds
• 10 minutes on the treadmill, alternating between 6.0, 4.0, 6.5, 7, and 4.0
• abs: Get a partner and a medicine ball, one standing partner tosses the ball to the partner on the floor, as the floor partner catches, she brings the ball back over her head and as she sits up, throws it back to the standing partner. 10 reps, 2 sets
• abs: russian twists w/ 8 lb medicine ball, 40 reps
• abs: leg lifts, 12 reps, 2 sets

I will be honest and say that we talked a lot between each set. We hadn’t seen each other for a week and needed to catch up. When we worked though, we worked hard. We won’t be the chatty Cathys in the gym again, I can promise you that.

Now let’s get sweaty!

 

Back from Costa Rica!

Hey guys! I’m back from beautiful, sunny, awesome, HOT Costa Rica. It was an awesome trip; a much needed get away. Since this is a fitness blog and not a vacation blog, I’ll get down to how we tried to stay in some sort of workout and healthy eating routine.

First of all, let’s talk about eating on vacation. I believe vacation is vacation from everything, but you can’t go completely overboard or you’ll have a lot of work to do once you get back home. One major thing to do on vacation, especially on the plane and in a hot country like Costa Rica, is DRINK WATER. Drink it on the plane to keep from bloating…oh you guys know exactly what I’m talking about. Drink it during the day to stay hydrated. If you are at an all inclusive resort like I was, drink it between the free pina coladas and mai tais. If your weakness is carbs, try to indulge in them in the morning and taper off in the afternoon. It makes sense to do that even when you’re not on vacation since carbs are our energy. We should get most of our carbs in the morning to fuel us throughout the day. If your weakness is sweets, indulge, but no seconds. If you go ahead and let yourself eat that piece of cake without feeling guilty or bargaining with yourself, you won’t feel the need to binge and go for seconds. I actually got a lot of my sweet tooth fixed by eating all the incredible fruit Costa Rica had to offer. It was melon season, so the watermelon, cantaloupe, and well, melons, were so good. The mangoes were fantastic as well. Dinner was the big meal of the day on our vacation, and all the restaurants at the resort were buffets except for one. Buffets are so hard to resist, but you can usually get a good variety of veggies and salads in a buffet. My favorite was the sushi buffet. The salmon sashimi was so good, it basically melted in your mouth. One thing to try with buffets is get what you want the first time and don’t go back for seconds. I found that every time I went back, I ended up being way too full to function afterward. Pay attention to your body and listen when it says its full. Again, lots of water, carbs earlier in the day, no seconds or split a dessert, and only one trip through the buffet.

We were lucky and went to a very active vacation spot. We went white water rafting, rope swinging, rappelling, rock climbing, zip lining, horseback riding (not recommended in shorts, btw), and walked on the beach a lot, which worked muscles in my legs I didn’t know I had. We got a game or two of water volleyball in too. (Another side note, make sure your bikini top is jump proof when playing this game, otherwise you’ll be playing one handed the whole time). There was also a pretty decent gym at the resort. If you stay in a place that has a gym, use it at least once on your vacation. You’ll have peace of mind and it won’t be too hard to start up again once you’re home. (I know all of you think working out once during a vacation is the perfect amount). If you don’t have a gym take 15-20 minutes each day to work some exercises in to your morning or night routine. 10-20 minutes of jumping jacks, mountain climbers, high knees, and burpees will be enough to get your heart rate high and to work off that extra cake I saw you sneak at dinner. That’s right. I saw. Longer than 20 minutes is awesome, but lets be honest. Its vacation. Also, vacation is the time to sight see, so you’ll probably get a lot of walking in. Walking is great! Make sure you take comfortable shoes so you can outlast everyone else. If you work in some lunges during those long sight seeing walks, your legs won’t hate you for it. (But don’t overdo it like my friend Renee..if you are just starting out, 80 lunges is probably not the number to start with. Her legs did actually hate her and took revenge.)  Here’s another juicy tidbit. If you are about to go out to the pool, do some push-ups, lunges and ab work. When you exercise, your muscles swell a little, so you’ll look a little more buff than you actually are if you do this right before you head out to the pool. You’ll also have the glowy/flushed look making you look a little younger.

Vacations are for fun and relaxation, but you don’t want to completely halt all the hard work you’ve been doing, so pay attention to what you’re putting in your bodies and get off your butt once in a while.

Have fun and get sweaty!

I put in a couple pictures from our white water rafting fun. We took a break and got to swing into the river. So fun!!

2/1/12 Workout

Quick workout with the hubby today before we head to Costa Rica tomorrow. Hubby did a quick chest work out and I did a quick upper body workout. We both ran for 20 minutes before hand. I did the same treadmill intervals I’ve been working on for a couple weeks now. Great news…I can do it all now!! This is about my 4th time running it and it was still not easy, but I wasn’t dying at the end. I call that progress.

My upper body workout was all done on the upside down bosu. The reason I use this a lot is to work on my balance. When you make your body keep still on something that should throw off its balance, you work smaller muscle fibers and your core gets a great workout.  I did these for 30 seconds each and then rested for a minute and did it again.

• Bicep curls, (2) 12 lb dumbbells, 30 sec
• Bent over rows, (2) 12 lb dumbbells, 30 sec
• Overhead tricep extension, (1)12 lb dumbbell, 30 sec
• Upright rows, (2) 12 lb dumbbells, 30 sec
• Lunge w/ overhead shoulder press, (2) 12 lb dumbbells, 30 sec (only one leg on the bosu at a time)

When you combine exercises like that last one, you get the ultimate calorie burn.

Abs were Russian twists w/ 8 lb medicine ball, overhead straight leg crunch w/ 8 lb medicine ball, crunch w/ 8 lb medicine ball, and up downs in plank position (start in push-up position, then drop to one elbow, then the other, then raise onto one hand and then the other to end in push-up position).

There will be no posts for 5-6 days since I’ll be in Costa Rica. You guys keep up your awesome work and I’ll see you in a week.

Blogs to look forward to:  Working out on vacation, what to eat before and after a workout, working out while pregnant, and no excuses. 🙂

Go get sweaty!

1/30/12 Workout

This is a good workout to do whenever you don’t have access to a gym or you don’t feel like going to the gym. You don’t need any equipment; just you and your bad ass attitude. If you’re a beginner, once through might be enough. I did it three times through and you really advanced people out there might do it six times through. This a speed workout, go through it as fast as you can.

The Dirty Dozen

• 12 squat jumps
• 12 air jacks (jumping jacks, but get your feet up in the air when you jump)
• 12 pushups (since we are going for speed, on your knees is perfectly fine)
• 12 lie-down, stand ups (with your hands in the air and from a standing position, lie down. Now stand up with no help from your hands)
• 12 plank jacks (in push-up position, jump your legs apart and back together, like you would a jumping jack)
• 12 lunges (static, alternating legs)
• 12 reverse lunges (step backward to lunge instead of forward)
• 12 cobra to plank (on your stomach with your hands by your chest, push your upper body up then bring up the rest of your body into push up position. Drop your body slowly back to the ground. If you can, drop it level, but if you’re still building strength, drop knees first then chest)
• 12 in and out v-sit crunches (sit in a v shape with your feet off the ground and your back off the ground. Bring your legs and upper body toward each other and then straighten them out away from each other, repeat)
• 12 split squat jumps (start in squat position, now take one leg back and at an angle. Make sure your knee still does not go past your toe when you squat. Jump and in the air, switch legs. repeat)
• 12 squat kicks (squat down and when you come up, kick one of your legs out in front of you. It doesn’t have to be high, but make sure to bring your knee up first so you don’t injure it)
• 12 tricep dips

Good luck!! Don’t forget to keep yourself hydrated!

Now let’s get sweaty!