Ready to sweat

If you're up for a tough workout, you should give this next one a shot. It was tough but kind of fun too because it incorporated a lot of moves that were new to me. There are 15 different moves (I did each one with a 50/10 split...50 seconds of work followed by 10 seconds of rest.) I repeated the entire circuit for a sweat-filled 30-minute workout. It was a great way to get the heart pumping early this morning.

1. Heisman (side to side leaps, landing on 1 foot, other knee up)
2. Front Jabs (basically punching and alternating left and right)
3. Hip Extension Jumps (with feet close together, squat down, touch the floor, explode up.)
4. 1-2-3- Heisman (quick shuffle to side for 3, land in Heisman at end of shuffle)
5. Cross Jacks (legs cross in front of body, arms alternate overhead)
6. Mummy Kicks (straight arms criss-cross in front of body while doing quick straight leg kicks)
7. A plank walk-out (From a standing position, keeping both legs straight, roll down until both hands touch the floor. Walk your hands away from your body, keeping your legs as straight as possible. Walk out into a plank position, hold for a second, then walk back)
8. Ski Jumps (feet together, jump side to side - don't twist, keep body facing forward)
9. Upper Cuts
10. Basketball Shots (shuffle to side for 3, squat low, touch floor with both hands, jump up and "shoot the ball" with your arms)
11. Ab Skiing (in plank position, jump both feet toward right hand, back to start, in toward left hand, back to start...DO NOT STAND UP)
12. Kick the hum (Run in place, bringing your heels to your bum)
13. Squat Ins (starting in plank, jump both feet together between hands, then back to plank, keep repeating...DO NOT STAND UP)
14. Frog Jumps (Jump forward into a wide squat, touch the floor with both hands, jump back into wide squat, touch floor with both hands. Keep repeating.)
15. Bench running taps (using a step, quickly tap alternating feet up on the step as fast as possible)

If you try this workout, be sure to let me know what you think.

Talking Point: What kinds of workouts do you enjoy? Do you like mixing it up, or do you tend to do the same things repeatedly? Are there any fun workout moves that you enjoy (or maybe you really hate them but know they're good for you?!?!?)

Getting the Motivation

Well it's 9:30 a.m. on a Saturday morning and I've already done this today...
We averaged 8:40 min/mile for all 12 miles which we were all happy about. (Side note: I run every Saturday morning on the C&O Canal towpath with a running group that formed about three months ago. It consists of me, one other woman who is also running the Western Maryland Half Marathon and two men, one of which is training for an October marathon and the other who still can't understand the notion of paying someone else to run a race when he can run every Saturday for FREE!! He definitely has a point...I seem to wonder the same thing at the starting line of every race that I run. Of course running with so many other people and seeing that finish line at the end seems to make it all worth it!)

As much as I detest waking up at the crack of dawn to run, it is nice to finish early and still have the whole rest of the day to enjoy doing whatever I want (of course after running 12 miles that usually consists of lots of eating and a nap if I get my way!)

I was asked this last week by a friend on ways to stay motivated when starting and maintaining an exercise routine. I listed some of my main motivators in yesterday's blog entry, but here were some of the other ideas that I gave her...

1. Set a goal. I know that I am less apt to skip a workout if I am training for something specific. Make a goal to walk/run a 5K, swim a mile, complete a triathlon or even do 25 push-ups. All of these things will help you to stay on track.

2. Give yourself a reward. I told her to create a chart, much like you would do for a young child, and when you complete 10 planned workouts, give yourself a treat (manicure, new workout shirt, new pair of shoes, etc.) Make it something you really want so it makes you want to get it that much faster!

3. Create a fun play list. Sometimes knowing I have a new play list to listen to on my MP3 player helps to get me out the door on those mornings that I would rather stay in bed. Music can be a great motivator!

4. Find a workout buddy. Knowing that you are responsible to someone else besides yourself always makes you more likely to keep your fitness appointments rather than blow them off. Find someone who is around your same fitness level and try new things together.

Talking Point: How do you keep yourself motivated to workout?

At least one reader!!

I have to admit that I was starting to feel a bit discouraged that nobody was actually reading this blog. But I finally got a few reader responses to those "talking points" that are always at the end of each blog entry (thank you Lauren and Stephanie!!) and then Stephanie wrote a really nice note on how much she is enjoying the blog. It made me get a bit teary-eyed and I realized that even if only one person is enjoying and/or learning something from this blog, then it makes it worth it.

Today's workout was another "Quick & Dirty" workout. It came from this website: bodyrock.tv (WARNING: The woman who does this website is incredibly fit and has some amazing workouts, but she shows A LOT of cleavage. You have been forewarned!!) Here's the actual workout I did:

Four exercises repeated six times for a total of 24 rounds. Each round consisted of 10 seconds of rest and 20 seconds of work (think Tabata-style). This entire workout only lasted 12 minutes, but left me totally spent at the end...

If you're using your Gymboss Interval Timer, you should set it up to look like this...

Complete the following exercises once each time and then repeat the entire circuit six times...

1. High Knees
2. Mountain Climbers
3. Side Plank Jumps (like squat thrusts but you jump to the side instead of out the back and add a little burpee on the end)
4. Super Girl Push-up (go down in a regular push-up, and as you come up, raise one arm and the opposite leg, repeat push-up and then raise the other arm and opposite leg)

(For more details on how to do this exact workout, go here)

During your 20 seconds of work, you should go all out and do as many as you can in the allotted time. Here were my results:

1. High Knees: 34/33/33/34/35/35 (I counted every time my right knee went up)
2. Mountain Climbers: 27/25/26/28/27/28 (Again, I counted each time my right knee went to the chest)
3. Side Plank Jump: 6/7/7/6/6/6
4. Super Girl Push-up: 7/8/8/8/7/8

I also did a 5-minute warm-up and cool-down on the stationary bike. This workout was short but very intense, great for a pre-lake workout (we spend most of Tuesday at the lake so I like to do something short before leaving in the morning.)

I refueled with my usual protein-flax oatmeal (love this stuff!) I also wanted to show my scrumptious lunch from yesterday...

Eating salads is one of the best ways to get in a lot of vegetable servings. My green of choice is fresh spinach and I also added some organic grape tomatoes and tuna all topped with some balsamic vinaigrette dressing. Add in a side of grapes and Babybel cheese and it was a complete meal.

Well, we're off to the lake. I will try my best not to get sunburned this time!! This afternoon I plan on attending my first BodyFlow class in order to complete this week's challenge. I'll let you know how it goes!

Talking Point: Do you like to eat salads? If so, what is your favorite kind of salad base (romaine, iceberg, spinach, arugula, etc..)? What else do you like to put on your salad?

New Gadget

I love finding new fitness gadgets to experiment with. They bring a certain freshness to what can sometimes become monotonous workouts. The best thing about the fitness gadget that I discovered this week is that it was free! In fact, most people already own some of these fitness gadgets and don't even know it. Can you guess what they are?


Washcloths!!


Yup, I had my first experiment with these this last week and I am in love. They definitely work muscles in a different way than I have experienced and after doing some of the exercises, my hamstrings were sore for days. So what exactly do you do with these washcloths? Well let me explain...(Note: You will need to find a hard surface to perform these exercises. Both hardwood floors and linoleum floors work great!)


1. Alternating Slide-Outs (a great core/upper body exercise)

Start in push-up position with a washcloth under each hand. Your feet should be hip distance apart with your hands slightly wider than your shoulders. Reach your right hand forward, sliding the washcloth along the floor while stabilizing your core muscles. Reach out as far as you can while holding your body in a straight line. Bring right hand back in and repeat on the left side.


2. Reverse Lunges (a new twist on a classic move)

Place a washcloth under each foot and stand with feet slightly separated. Slide your left foot along the floor into a rear lunge, making sure that your right knee does not go in front of your right toe and go down until your right thigh is parallel to the floor (your left knee should be close to, if not touching the ground.) Slide your left foot back up and repeat on the right side.


3. Mountain Climbers (more engaging than regular ones)

Again start in push-up position with each of your feet this time on a washcloth. Slide your right foot forward while drawing your right knee into your chest. Slide the right foot back to the starting position and repeat on the left side. You can alternate back and forth with this move or you can "run" your knees in so that as your right foot goes back into the starting position, your left foot moves forward at the same time. This will give you a good cardio-blast too!


4. Glute Bridges (these are killer -- I could only do a few before my hamstrings were on FIRE!!)

These are HARD (just thought you should be forewarned!) Lie on your back with your knees bent and each of your feet on top of a washcloth. Keep your hands on the ground slightly away from your body and try not to let them press into the ground. Lift your hips into the air as high you can and hold them there throughout this exercise. With your hips lifted, slide both feet away from you as far as you can while still keeping your hips in the raised position. Then slide them back in to the starting position. You should feel this working your hamstring muscles (on the back of your thigh) right away! To make this a bit easier, you can alternate between the right and left side rather than pushing both feet in and out together.

5. Pikes Peak (if you can do these, you must have abs of steel!)

Start in push-up position with both feet on a washcloth. Use your core abdominal muscles to draw your feet in towards your hands while keeping your legs straight (at the top of this move, your body should be in a "pike" position with arms and legs both as straight as possible.) Hold for a few seconds before sliding feet back into the starting push-up position.

So you see, a lot of times you don't need fancy equipment or luxury gyms to get in a great workout. A few washcloths and you'll be well on your way to "making IT fit!"