Hello everyone! First of all, I want go give a big thanks for all the positive comments I’ve had on my blog. I was really nervous about sharing it so I’m pumped that people actually like it. Woo hoo!
So, the good news is the snowstorm is over. Bad news is, another is supposedly on the way. This Wednesday we’re supposed to get hit again. Clearly Mother Nature is moody as hell lately. Wonder what her deal is…Our school had their prom on Sunday and it turned out great. Watching all of those high school girls dressed up can really make a girl feel old. Wow!! I better stock up on some eye cream! My stepson went with his date and we managed to get a quick pic with them. This pic also makes me feel old. When I started dating my husband, my stepson was 5 and had just started kindergarten. Now he’s 6’2″ and has a driver’s license. I can’t even.
So after doing some research, I decided on a few blog topics for this week. By research, I mean that I asked my college best friends what they wanted me to talk about. These girls don’t sugarcoat anything so I knew if they said something was a good idea, I should go with it. So the topic of this blog is working out. I’ve almost always worked out as I was pretty active kid. I took dance lessons, tried a few sports, and rode horses. I worked out during college and tried to continue after college. After college, I worked at Nationwide Insurance in Des Moines. We were lucky enough to have a gym in the building so working out was easy. I could go in the morning before work, on my lunch hour, or after work. Plus, I’d meet up with friends so I always had an accountability partner.
These days I mostly workout at home. I have Beachbody On Demand which is like the Netflix of working out. They have all types of workouts. I should also mention I’m not great at sticking with a program. I get tired of the same trainer or same type of workouts so I like to mix it up. Lately, my knee has been blowing up again (I had surgery for torn meniscus in 2009 and it still gives me problems.) The past week, it’s been really painful so I’ve been sticking to low impact stuff and no weight lifting because I think lunges might make me cry like a baby. So here’s the workouts I did last week:
Monday: Shaun T’s Rockin’ Body Party Express:
If you’ve ever done a Shaun T workout, you know he means business. This is one of his dance workouts. Is it cheesy? Yes. Would I want anyone to actually see me doing this? No. Does it burn a ton of calories? Yes.
Tuesday: Upper Body Workout
I wrote down a circuit workout, did it, and now I can’t find it. Woops.
Wednesday: Turbo Jam Cardio Party Remix
I like Turbo Jam. Punching and kicking is a good stress reliever. Any of these workouts leave you dripping in sweat and looking terrible. That’s a sign of a good workout. And all the punching gives you toned arms. At least I think it does. My arms and shoulders were sore the next day so here’s hoping.
Thursday: Shaun T’s Hip Hop Abs Cardio
Shaun T does it again. I’m super awkward doing this but I know my abs were getting a good workout. So I’ll try it again.
Friday: Rest Day
That means I was too tired to get up early and I was busy at the FFA Banquet that night.
Saturday: 40 mins on the treadmill, Upper body workout, & Lower body workout.
Ok, since this was a snowday, I worked out twice. I did 40 minutes at a slow walk on the treadmill while watching Parenthood, then I came in and did an Upper Body Workout. Later my husband went to the treadmill to run for the second time that day, and my competitive nature kicked in. So I did a lower body workout while I watched Parenthood. Are you sensing a theme here? Anyhow, here’s the workouts I did.
Upper Body = 2 rounds of exercises, do each round twice
Round #1:
15 Bicep Curl to Shoulder Press
16 Triceps Dips with Crab Kick
16 Lateral Slides with sliders (start in plank and pull each leg in and across the other leg)
15 Chest Press
Round #2:
15 Dumbbell Rows
10 Pikes with Slides
15 Dumbbell Flies
15 Side Planks with slides (each side)
15 Lateral Raises
Lower Body = 2 rounds, do each round twice
Round #1:
15 Quad Raises with ankle weights (each leg)
15 Inner Leg Lifts with ankle weights (each leg)
15 Banded Hip Bridges
15 Banded Supermans
15 Straight Leg Raises with bands(each leg)
Round #2:
15 Straight Leg Crossovers with bands (each leg)
15 Banded First Position Bridges
8 Hamstring Curls with slides (each side)
20 Calf Raises with weights
15 Deadlifts with Weights
Sunday: 60 minutes on the treadmill
I did this in 3 intervals of 20 minutes. I did 20 minutes while lunch was cooking, 20 minutes after I ate lunch, and 20 minutes after I got home from watching the grand march. And yes, Parenthood was involved all 3 times. I just started Season 5.
For Saturday’s workout I used dumbbells, resistance bands, and exercise slides. I purchased my dumbbells at Walmart years ago but got the resistance bands and slides on Amazon (links provided). I like the bands and sliders. They seem easy but they’re really effective. I plan on taking them along when I travel if I need a hotel room workout. I’m hoping my knee heals (as best it can) so I can start feeling better this week. I normally workout about 6 days a week but one day is usually just yoga. Speaking of yoga, I should do more of that. I’m trying to be a morning worker outer but I get a better workout after work (when I’m more awake). I love the feeling I get when I wake up and workout but damnit, it’s cold and I don’t want to go outside. I have to bring the dog outside before I work out. In nice weather, I am good about getting up and going for a walk or getting a workout in. For awhile I was giving myself $1 every time I worked out first thing in the morning. Maybe I better start doing that again. Rewards always work! Anyone else have any tips to get my a** up in the morning?!?
Have a good day and go workout! Here’s a quick workout you can do using your own bodyweight!
Do AMRAP (As Many Rounds As Possible) for 20 minutes:
30 seconds high knees
10 pushups
10 squats
10 burpees
20 stomach crunches
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