Calf raises | A Happy Lass

I led another awesome workout session last night. We’ve been running them for 3 weeks and I’ve seen people come once and not again, but I’ve also seen people come back, and that’s what I love. Mike comes to the workouts and I grill him for criticism and advice every Tuesday night. This week I realized how nervous I am that not everyone is getting sucked into the atmosphere of exercise. He grabbed me by the shoulders and injected this little wisdom nugget into my head:

I can’t force people to change, I can only give them the knowledge and lead them down the right path. In the end, they have to move their own two legs to walk that path.

Isn’t he smart 🙂 It’s so true. There is a certain switch that has to trigger for someone to truly educate themselves and make the gargantuan effort to stay healthy. Because it is NOT EASY. Compared to unhealthy living, it’s expensive, time-consuming, and takes some major will-power but it’s so worth it.

So here I am, leading you to the path. Keep following me and I’ll try to make it less expensive, less time-consuming, and maybe a little more fun.

Today I challenge you to actually do this workout! I have a feeling that you just scroll through these Wednesday posts without a second glance. JUST TRY IT. It’s 12 minutes. What do you have to lose?

– 20 seconds on/20 seconds rest

– each exercise 3 times

– total of 12 minutes

– if you don’t push yourself, this doesn’t work. if you do, holy cow it’s amazing!

1) high knees

2) russian twist – use weight and/or lift your legs off the ground.

3) calf raises – use weight or not! hold on to a chair if you need to.

4) plié squat – if it’s easy, do it faster and/or use weight.

5) tri dip – if it’s easy, lift one leg up or stretch both out in front.

6) mountain climber – fast or slow

photo credit: 1 2 3 4 5 6

So how did it go??

So this morning I was awake by 6:15am and have to be out the door by 6:45. Usually I budget at least an hour and half to wake up, workout out, shower, write this lovely little blog, then eat. This morning, no way! So I will be coming home at lunch for a quick workout and shower, but for those of you who have had the workout time squeezed out of your schedule on any given day, here are a few passive workout tips.

These should never be substituted for a real workout but should be daily rules to live by so that you don’t feel so bad when you just literally don’t have the time.

1) Always take the stairs. Always. When you get off the train and see that massive, daunting set of 12,000 stairs, look at it as your mini goal for the next 5 minutes and go for it!

2) Park far from the store entrance. If you’re in a hurry, even better, that mean’s you’ll power walk to and from your car.

3) Carry your groceries rather than bringing the cart out. There have been days when I have so many groceries in my arms that people think I’m insane, BUT I also have very sore arm muscles by the time I get to my car.

4) Do calf raises while standing in line. Again, you may look kind of weird bouncing up and down but after a few reps, people stop looking and after a few minutes, your calves are workin’ hard.

5) And this is less workout and more just something to live by, stand up straight! Always! This not only tightens your core and makes you more stable in your real workouts but it’s so good for your current and future spine health to have great posture.

Ok time to brush my teeth and head out! I hope you’re all having fantastic days.

Smile 🙂