Tag Archives: Physical exercise

Workout Wednesday: Do You Brace?

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The brace: anyone heard of it? Not like for your teeth or a broken limb, for your abs silly! It’s this position that you should be aware of no matter what type of exercise you do. It strengthens your core, supports your back, AND helps give you that awesome 8-pack you’ve been dreaming of.

Brace: tighten your lower abs. Tighten so you feel like your attaching your abs to your lower back. Now keep your abs there and breathe. This is how you should be exercising. There are exercises where the brace is more important but if you can learn to do this throughout your exercise routine you’ll start to see huge differences. This applies to weight lifting, riding bikes, running, swimming, EVERYTHING!

Finally for today’s workout:

Beginner through intermediate (12 minutes)

– 20 seconds on/ 20 seconds off

– each exercise 3 times in a row

Advanced (16 minutes)

– 30 seconds on/ 10 seconds off

– each exercise 4 times in a row

Exercises:

TriDip

1. Tricep Dip

pendulum-lunge-ex

2. Speed Lunges (hold your feet in place. quickly straight then bend legs into lunge. switch sides half-way through each set)

RussianTwist

3. Russian Twist

ProneTrunkRaises1

4. Swimmers

fire-hydrants-moves-to-tone-your-butt-05-full

5. Fire Hydrant (switch sides half-way through each set)

4-bob-harper-exercise-moves-high-knees-lgn

6. High Knees

Now I have a question for all of you: How many times a week do you workout? Once, Twice, 6 times? And for how long each time?

Hope you’re all having wonderful Wednesdays! 🙂

 

Workout Wednesday: Feelin’ the Burn Yet?

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The workout we did last night, in our class, was very unassuming but JEEZ it was difficult. Getting out of bed this morning was a struggle. I could barely make my legs work! While this feeling really shouldn’t be happening every time you workout, it’s good to get it every once in a while. It means that you’ve found new muscles to work. Start to recognize where you feel the most fatigue after a workout and make sure you start working those areas harder in the future. Muscle fatigue shows you where your weaknesses are.

If these workouts aren’t hard enough for you…First, have you tried them? They may be harder than you think. Second, if they’re truly not hard enough, up the ante. I’m officially in training for bike racing next season so I’ve increased my workouts a bit. I am now doing each exercise 4 times with 30 seconds on/ 10 seconds off. WOWZA. It ends up being 16 minutes long and I am dying by the end of it. Actually threw up in my mouth the last two times I did it. (< gross. But it is weird that I get an odd sense of satisfaction out of this? I am sort of proud that I pushed myself that hard).

Without further ado, here’s the workout!

– 20 seconds on/ 20 seconds off (see above for the advanced version)

– 6 exercises, 3 times each

– PUSH YOURSELF. The effectiveness of this workout depends on your effort.

Side Hops

1. Side-to-side Hop (beginner-step side to side, advanced-jump over an obstacle)

HalfBurpee

2. Half Burpee (beginner-step one foot back at a time, advanced-jump feet between hands)

LegLift

3. Leg lift (beginner-bend one knee at a time into chest, advanced-keep legs straight)

Pike Pushup

4. Pike Pushup (beginner-only bend arms slightly, advanced-touch top of forehead to ground)

OneLegSquat

5. One-leg Squat (beginner-hold onto a chair and bend only slightly, advanced-no chair and bend deeper)

SitAndPray

6. Sit and Pray (beginner– bend knees only slightly, advanced-quads parallel to the ground, elbows between knees)

Anyone who was in my class last night: How did you feel afterwards?

 

Workout Wednesday: Sore Wrist Is No Excuse

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I woke up on Sunday morning feeling like I had a helium balloon in my stomach and a woodpecker in my head. Haha. I don’t know. I just didn’t feel great. Also, as mentioned on Thursday’s post, I have a bum wrist and was making that excuses for the last couple days. No more! So before I climbed out of bed, I thought of my six exercises. As soon as I was out of bed, I put on my workout clothes and wandered up stairs to see who in the house would join me.

Mike’s mom, Bonnie, AND his sister, Kristen, did this workout with me. AND I have a brace on my wrist. Just goes to show that there are NO EXCUSES.

Structure:

– 6 exercises

– 20 seconds on/ 20 seconds off

– each exercise 3 times

– total 12 minutes!

– PUSH YOURSELF or it won’t work

Exercises:

^ 1. high knees

^ 2. calf raises

^ 3. crunches

^ 4. plank  < because of my wrist, I did these on elbows and stayed in position through the “20 seconds off” as well.

^ 5. jump lunges

^ 6. low jacks

Let me know how it goes!

And as always, have a happy day 🙂

 

Workout Wednesday: Whicooooosh!

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I picked it up with the workout last night. People were getting complacent and you know what that means, whicooosh!

So just like every Wednesday the workout is as follows:

– 20 seconds on, 20 seconds rest

-6 exercises, do each one 3 times (12 minutes total!)

 

1. low jacks

2. backward lunge (keep shoulders over hips)

3. burpees

4. crunches (feet on floor OR knees at right-angle OR legs straight in the air. lift SHOULDERS not head)

5. elbow-in push ups (on the wall OR on your knees OR on your toes in plank)

6. toe taps (tap each foot in front of you QUICKLY but stably, tap the ground, an elevated surface, or a fitness ball)

photo credit: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

Ashley Life Update: It’s a weird feeling to be settling into such a hectic lifestyle. I guess routine can get you anything and everything. I’m finally figuring out how to work my 50 hours at job #1 and 5 hours at job#2 plus keeping the house clean, cooking healthy meals, and working out. This is what normal people do, plus kids!?! My respect for my parents and grandparents goes up with each year I’m alive. Anyway, regardless of the routine, I’m exhausted and SO excited for a real rest at Thanksgiving.

Also, yesterday I had 70 followers and today I have 69. Someone stopped following me! That’s kind of an odd feeling. Like someone found it worth the time and energy to stop reading my words. But I’ve done it to other blogs so I guess I can’t be sad. It just happens. Welp, that’s my life right now, learning all these weird, important lessons from all these normal, tiny things.

Anyway, I hope you’re all having wonderful days. I want to send some love out to my family right now. I’m missing you all exceptionally. Love and hugs (and weird texting pictures),

Question for YOU:

What have you been taking charge of in your life recently?

Thirsty Thursday: Drink More Water.

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You don’t drink enough water. Yes, I am accusing you. But have you ever questioned yourself? Most people aim for the 8 x 8 ounces glasses of water a day. THAT IS NOT ENOUGH. It’s enough to stave off dehydration and keep your body functioning but water can do so much more!

– Drinking water flushes your body of excess toxins, encourages digestion, and keeps you awake and energized.

– Sometimes people think they’re hungry when they’re actually just thirsty; so before you reach for the cookies, drink a tall glass of water.

– When you’re sick, water helps your system flush the bacteria and viruses from your body.

– If you’re trying to lose weight, water will help rinse out your digestive tract and other overloaded organs.

– You can drink it with tea, with mint leaves, with lemon or even cucumber!

– Carry a reusable bottle (BPA free) everywhere with you so that it becomes habit to drink whenever you have a free 30 seconds.

If you’re still questioning whether you drink enough, check out this awesome calculator I found:

http://nutrition.about.com/library/blwatercalculator.htm *

*At the very end the site mentions that soft drinks are a source of water. They are, but the amount of bad stuff they put in your body overrides the amount of good.

Disclaimer: The situation is different for infants and people with kidney or adrenal problems. If you are one of those people, please consult your doctor before taking my advice. Also, you CAN drink too much water. It’s very tough but doable so please don’t do it. Also, DO NOT drink your entire daily water intake at one time.

Wednesday Workouts: What Does Your Week Look Like?

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How much do you work out? I was prepping for the fitness class I teach on Tuesday nights and I realized that, for some of my “students”, it may be the only time they workout that week. While I applaud their effort to make it a weekly habit, that amount of exercise really WON’T DO ANYTHING. So seriously, how much do you workout?

I was raised by a mom that had intense dedication to her mental and physical health. She manages to make time to workout for an hour 6 days a week. What?! That’s a lot of working out. When I lived at home, I used to get super stressed about making enough time for that. Since I’ve moved away, I’ve discovered my own rhythm and it’s working awesomely.

Some basic rules for getting results and staying healthy:

1. SET UP A ROUTINE – determine what is manageable for your schedule and energy levels and slowly work that into your daily life. I know a lot of people who write down their weekly or monthly routine, put it on the fridge so everyone can see, and then cross off the days. Then everyone knows when you’re not sticking to it.

2. INCLUDE VARIATION – I know people who can do the same workout everyday but most people need some variation. So pick a few activities like walking/running, riding your bike, swimming, weight training, etc, and give yourself options for which workout you will do.

3. HOLD YOURSELF ACCOUNTABLE – find a way to punish yourself if you don’t stick to you routine. My punishment is no dessert the night that I fail to stick to my guns. Works for me and my sweet tooth!

4. MAKE IT MANAGEABLE – don’t push your limits so hard that you burn out, make sure your routine is relatively easy to stick to and that you don’t feel like you’re spending your whole life working out.

5. did I say MAKE IT MANAGEABLE? – working out hard and often is really difficult. Ease your way into it and make sure you can sustain it.

For the past 3 months my workouts have looked like this:

3x a week – 12 to 20 minutes of the bodyweight/circuit workouts that I post here

2x a week – 20 to 40 minutes strength yoga to calm my mind, strengthen my muscles, and detox my organs.

I was resting after bike season. Now the pre-season winter training begins and I will be trading 1 yoga and 1 strength training for an hour of intervals on my bike trainer. Combine this with a healthy diet and I’m in the best shape of my life.

The Wednesday Workout for this week:

– 20 seconds on/20 seconds rest

– each exercise 3 times

– total of 12 minutes

– this workout requires you to push yourself. hard.

1. ^ butt kicks (standing in place or running)

2. ^ hip raise (if you can, lift one leg up to the sky or put your legs straight out on a fitness ball)

3. ^ pike pushup (if you can, do it with your legs elevated on a step or fitness ball)

4. ^ 45° Lunge – one direction then the other (just adding some variation to tone those small twitch muscles)

5. ^ plank (if you can, do it on hands and/or with little kicks)

SQUAT AND HOLD YOUR HAND OUT IN FRONT. quads parallel to the ground.

6. ^ sit & pray

Back to the subject: How much do you workout?

 

 

Wednesday Workout: Let’s Walk Down This Path

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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??

 

 

Wednesday Workout: Two Things to Remember

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Well hidey ho there blogosphere neighbors! Yesterday I led another great workout class. It was a 12-minute workout, just like last week but I remembered to tell the class about my Two Basic Rules.

Rule #1- BREATH. I learned this from lots of weight training and lots of yoga. Make sure you establish a breathing rhythm right along with your perfect form. If an exercise is a huge challenge for you, focus on (imagining) that you’re breathing into that part of you body. Better breathing means more oxygenated blood and muscles=better workout.

Rule #2-BRACE. Ok, put your hand on your lower belly, now flex it. Flex it so that you feel like it’s reaching back to your lower back. It should sorta feel like you’re (excuse my language) pooping. If you can hold this position throughout your exercises, especially when they get really difficult, then it will support and strengthen your back, belly, and the entire rest of your core.

Now that we have those out of the way. Here was the workout we did yesterday.

– 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) Side Hop – jump over something, or just step side to side as fast as you can.

2) Good Mornings – do it without a barbell, just with your hand on your head

3) Push Ups – plank position or on your knees or even on the wall if you have shoulder problems

4) Crunches – don’t bend your neck! Just lift your head and shoulders towards the ceiling

5) Plank – with speed kicks if you’re extra awesome

6) Frog Squat

‘Twas another great workout with so many people! I beginning to love teaching this class.

What workout will you do today? 

🙂

 

Workout Wednesday: 12 minutes and done! I swear.

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Last night I led my first workout in front of more than 5 people! It was so flipping fun. We had very fit people as well as people who haven’t worked out in a while. We had kids there (seriously, 3 year olds) as well as ladies in their fifties. And every single person was sweating. Again, it was so fun!

Here’s the workout:

– SIX exercises

– do each exercise THREE times

– do it for TWENTY seconds, then rest for TWENTY, then do it for another 20, and on…

– it’s VERY important to do as many of each exercise in 20 seconds

Exercises:

1) low jacks

2) toe taps – tap on the ground or find a stair

3) burpees – follow the image and put a push up in the middle

4) speed squats – squats, as fast as you can while keeping form

5) tricep dips

6) high knees

Best part is, the workout only takes TWELVE MINUTES!!

Who’s gonna try this? Tell me if you do!

Whatever your workout today, I hope it is wonderful! 🙂

Workout Wednesday: Guide to Building Your Own Workout

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Last Wednesday I had a crazy busy morning and didn’t have time to squeeze in a workout. I resolved to workout if I got a long enough lunch break or to just save it until after work. I am proud to say that I managed to workout, shower, eat lunch, get ready, and make a smoothie all within a 45 minute lunch break. That’s right, I am Wonder Woman.

 

Wonder Woman Covers

Wonder Woman

In the end, all of my time efficiency comes from having a routine for each of these things. I had the blender on while I was getting dressed and I was eating lunch while my hair dried. It’s all about thinking out a plan on the car ride home and not dawdling even a little bit. Which is what I’m trying to do this very morning so moving on…

The workout I did was quite unique. I realized on the drive home that I wouldn’t have time to look up a workout with the lovely Zuzana Light so I made up my own. I just chose some full body exercises and a time crunch that would make me sweat AND hurt at the same time. Sounds like fun right??

Here was my workout:

3 rounds of 5 exercises. Do each exercise to the max for 40 seconds, rest for 20 seconds, start the next exercise. Repeat each round 3 times.

Exercises:

1. Pushups (from my knees because my pecks are strangely weak)

2. Crunches (with my legs straight in the air)

3. Squat to shoulder press (with weight, use water bottles if you don’t have weights)

4. Lunge Jump (lunge down then jump up and switch legs)

5. Leg raise (Lie on the ground and lift legs up to 90° angle, keeping them straight, then lower them)

This workout ended up being killer and I felt pretty awesome for formatting my own. Some rules to help you do the same:

– Make sure you know the correct form for an exercise before you do it alone. Wrong form makes you prone to injury. (If you don’t know, just google or youtube it!)

– Establish reachable goals for the workout like “I want to do 30 crunches in each 40 second time period.”

– Keep the whole workout under a time limit so that you feel like you’re really accomplishing something in a tiny bit of time.

– Record all your numbers so that you can look back and try again in a few weeks. Track your progress!

– Be proud of what you’ve done and build on it, nothing’s better than self-propelled success.

 

I repeat: nothing is better than self-propelled success. So get off your bum and get it done!

And be sure to SMILE in between grimaces 🙂