Fitness Fridays - Summertime Fun



Walking the beach with my boys (In some VERY unflattering shorts.  No worries, I am burning them NOW!).


I have been trying my darnedest to get out and enjoy the wonderful warm weather, and you should too!  Here are a few reasons:

1 hour of hiking = 422 calories
1 hour of badminton = 317 calories
1 hour of moderately rowing a canoe = 493 calories
1 hour of hopscotch = 352 calories
1 hour of moderate bicycling = 563 calories
1 hour of Frisbee = 211 calories
1 hour of gardening = 281 calories
1 hour of mowing your lawn with a push mower = 387 calories
1 hour of walking with your kids around the neighborhood = 176 calories
1 hour of roller-skating = 493 calories
1 hour of swimming leisurely = 422 calories
1 hour of jumping on the trampoline = 246 calories

Shocked?  Excited?  Motivated?  I hope so!  Grab your kiddies and get out and play!  Your butt will thank you!

Fitness Fridays

How are you enjoying the 30 day squat challenge?????  If you missed last weeks Fitness Friday, you can check it out here.  I am surprised at how much I like it.  I split mine up into sets of ten because as my sister the personal trainer pointed out, who wants to do hundreds of squats at once?
She was also kind enough to inform me of a 30 day AB challenge.  Holy cow, how did my painfully soft, mommy belly miss this?!  I went on the hunt and found it to share with all your mommy bellies (or daddy bellies because we all know it happens).

My sister the personal trainer points out that this is better than the 30 day squat challenge because it has a variety of exercises.  She will happy when she reads this because I have decided she and I should come up with a 30 day butt challenge (I am thinking of a new name because I am worried it could be taken wrong...).  I am thinking she is right about the whole monotony thing and it might be more enjoyable AND effective if we had four or five different moves.  I will keep you posted.  In the meantime, trash those abs!

Fitness Fridays

I was at work putting in a set of extensions last night on a client I really enjoy.  That is a really good thing since we have to spend a LOT of time together considering an extension application takes 3 hours.  I digress (imagine that).  We were talking about working out and I was whining about my butt not being round and perky enough and she told be about the 30 day squat challenge.  She was shocked I had not heard of it since we are both big "pinners".
Of course, I had to look it up since I have a pear shaped body that also happens to have carried three humans.  If you are also feeling a little less than "bootylicious"  here are two great options I found. 

Or if you want a little less strenuous option:

 

 



Fitness Fridays

Every now and then we need some motivation to keep up going on our exercise and healthy eating plan.  With that in mind, I want to share a really cool link I discovered.  You enter in your current height weight and frame as well as your goal weight and it gives you a rendering of the two sizes.  I think it is great for two reasons:

1. Most of us have body dysmorphia and are not as HUGE as we are convinced we are.  It is nice to see what you really look like now, size wise.
2. You can see the difference your goal loss will make which can be very inspiring.

While I think this is a super neat tool, I do have a couple of problems with it:

1. It does not have an option to add mommy belly or stretch marks, so the virtual me is not quite accurate (see below).
2. Her shoes are just awful.

If you are needing some inspiration for your workouts or to skip the ice cream check it out!

 

http://www.modelmydiet.com/

Fitness Fridays - Oldies but Goodies

When thinking about exercise, it is easy to get caught up in all the "new" workouts out there.  However, some of the best moves are ones you will probably remember from gym class.  These can be a great addition to your circuit training repertoire.  One of the most important factors in any workout is change.  It keeps your body from getting efficient and your mind from getting bored.  Here are some of my favorite "classic" moves.  

       

1. Jumping Jacks-works your total body including your cardiovascular system, start with 2-3 reps of 25
2. Chair Dips-works primarily your triceps, a great modification is to put your feet on a chair too then you will work legs and core as well, try 2-3 reps of 10-15
3. Plank-works your core like nobody's business, try holding for 1 minute
4. High Knees-fast or slow, your legs and butt will BURN, try to keep it moving for 3 reps of 60 seconds each
5. Leg Lifts-don't laugh, inner and outer thighs will benefit greatly, try 3 reps of 10 each leg
6. Wall Sits-oh the burn, try it on your toes to hit your entire lower body, 60 seconds at a time
7. Mountain Climbers-everything, especially your core will tighten up with these, go for 60 second intervals
8. Step Ups-lower body with a cardio benefit, go hard for 60 second bursts
9. Jump Rope-there is a reason boxers do it, it is great cardio and jumping is more intense than you remember, use it as a warm up to get your blood pumping and all your muscles going
10. Sit Ups-yup, they work, be sure to do them on a mat or carpeted surface, I tuck my toes under my couch to help keep my feet on the floor, try 3 reps of 25-30
     

Fitness Fridays

What is your worst thing about wearing a swimming suit?  Belly jiggle?  Bat wings?  Butt that looks like it survived a hail storm?  Inner thighs that rub together?  Ouch.  Abrasive. 

Here is a cool modified squat that hits all those trouble spots.  Butt, arms, thighs, core.  Boom.

 

Step 1:  Stand with feet a little more than shoulder width apart and point your toes out slightly.  Hold a dumbbell (5-12 lbs. depending on your fitness level) in front at waist level.

Step 2:  Keeping your arms straight, lift the weight to shoulder height as you lower slowly into a squat.  Hold for 2 counts and then slowly return to the starting position.

 

***Always maintain control of your movements.  NO swinging!***

Fitness Fridays

Bathing suits are here!  Went to Target and staring me down as soon as I walked in were a slew of bikinis.  Jerks.  Just thinking about them makes me suck in and realize that might not fix the problem (problem being I have carried three people in my stomach).

So today, for the reasons stated above, we are back to abs.  One of the coolest and best ab exercises I have found is a variation of the plank.  All by itself the plank is tortuously fantastic, but this one added move makes it wicked good. 

Start in the traditional plank position, on your toes, forearms on the floor. 

Alternate bending each leg to the side, bringing your knee to your waist, still maintaining plank position with your arms and other leg.

That is it!  Seems simple, right?  Try it and let me know how that works out for you.

Fitness Fridays

I have to believe that tank top season is right around the corner, even though it appears that little groundhog is a lying bast...  you know what I mean.  I was looking around for a cool arm workout and one of the most suggested moves was the push-up.  I came across this variation and though it looked cool so I tried it.  The difference is amazing!  If you have a hard time with regular push-ups, try this version, it is much easier to maintain your position without creeping across the floor (you know what I mean).

 

Lie on your stomach with your legs out straight and spread a few inches wider than hip-width apart. Bend your elbows and place your palms on the floor a bit to the side and in front of your shoulders. Straighten your arms and lift your body so you're balanced on your palms and the underside of your toes. Keeping your back straight, bend your elbows and lower your entire body at once. Rather than trying to touch your chest to the floor, lower only until your upper arms are parallel to the floor. Push back up.  I shoot for 10-15 reps starting out and work my way up.

Fitness Fridays

Today I am sharing a variation of the classic crunch.  I discovered it in a pole dancing class I took after I had my first son.  (For the record, pole dancing is GREAT exercise)  I tried to hunt down some pictures for you and only found one.  Since I have no one around right now to take a photo of me demonstrating, I will do my best at describing it.  I'm pretty sure I can handle it.  It is known as the clam crunch (sounds dirty) or the butterfly crunch.

This is step 2.

 

Step 1:  Lay on your back.  Bend your knees and touch the bottoms of your feet together making a diamond shape and resting your legs on the floor.

Step 2:  Place your hands behind your head and curl your head and knees up and toward each other, keeping the diamond shape with your legs.  Squeeze your tummy muscles as you go.

Step 3:  Return to the original position.

 

 

I really like this ab exercise because it works the upper and lower abdominals.  I try to hit 50 reps.  My baby ravaged belly needs it.

Fitness Fridays

I do the grocery shopping alone (by alone I mean with a toddler in the cart playing games on a Nook to avoid complete meltdown and an infant in a MOBE strapped to my chest).  I do not buy crap because said crap would attach itself directly to my butt.  Any excuse my husband can find to go to Target or Walmart results in two things, a video game and crap.  Last night my husband came home with:

1. Chips Ahoy
2. Chips Ahoy with Reeses
3. Swiss Cake Rolls
4. Zebra Cakes

Really.  I saw the pile (because they did not magically find their way to the pantry, weird) and said:

"Do you like women with big asses?  I hope so or you will be a very sad man."

He grinned a really rotten grin which leads me to believe that yes, he is in fact a butt man.  So as I sit today dreaming of all the crap now living in my pantry (the put away fairy only visits when I am home, weird), I decided to post one of the most effective and dreaded exercises I know.  The Burpee.


This exercise goes by many names.  Cell block push-up's, squat thrust, the up-down and the list goes on.  Basically you squat (the kind to pick something up, not the exercise kind), jump your feet back into plank position, jump your feet back to where they started then explode up into a jump, then back down to start over.  This works EVERYTHING.  If you want to make it harder (stupid) you can add a push up while in the plank position.  These are crazy hard and exhausting so instead of a number of reps, I go for a minute and do as many as I can.  I am not going to lie, at the end of a minute, my jump back is more of a walk and my explode up is more like standing.  As creepy Tony Horton would say - Do your best and forget the rest!

Fitness Fridays

I have a cool tricep move to share this week.  My son would love to have "bat wing" arms.  Me... not so much and the older I get the more terrifying they become. 

Chair dips and free weights are great, but I saw this and thought it was a really good idea.  I am lazy enough to not want to have to go to the basement and get my weights, so anything I can do without them gets a gold star in my book! 

 

Place your elbows and palms flush against the wall, and take a few steps back so that your weight is supported from elbow to palm. Then, extend your elbows out and back slowly.  I am starting with reps of 8-10.  A girl's gotta be able to brush her hair the next day, so be careful!

This guy's triceps are bangin' so apparently he thinks that gives him a pass to wear his sweat pants like that.

Fitness Fridays

Butts have become big.  Literally and figuratively.  Big breasts, meh.  Now the focus is on the bedonkadonk, donkey booty, dat ass, I can't find my thesaurus so that's all I got.  Incubating and birthing and rearing three humans has left me with a lackluster posterior.  Not a train wreck (like my stomach), but certainly not noteworthy either. 

Since I can never have an ample bosom (outside of breastfeeding of course), and I gave up on killer abs about ten years ago...  well, I didn't give up, that dream was ripped from me by the biggest of my small people.  I would nickname her Dreamkiller, but people would probably get the wrong idea.  Tangent over.

Anyway.  Since I can't have big breasts, full lips or killer abs, I have decided a great butt is my last hope for an enviable body part.  In my research, I was happy to find that some of the best posterior exercises are well known and easily mastered options. 

Today, I am sharing a variation on the traditional lunge.

 



Reverse Lunge

 

Basically, you step back into the lunge instead of forward. Be sure to bend your front knee at a 90 degree angle. Do not extend your knee forward past your toe, keep it directly above your ankle. Start with 12 reps per leg and work your way up to 20.  I recommend setting your IPod to Sir Mix-A-Lot. 

Fitness Fridays

I am in desperate need of some abs.  I am sure I still have them, they just resemble a pair of panty hose AFTER you wear them.  You realize having children will take all your energy, time and love of course.  You just don't realize it will take your ability to comfortably sit down in a swimming suit in public.

With the impending doom of a family vacation on the beach, I have decided to get my butt in shape.  Unfortunately, my two small children make it difficult to do anything for an extended period of time, so I have decided circuit training is the way to go.  Good thing it is my absolute favorite way to work out.  I have the attention span of a gnat so the constant changing involved appeals to me.  The down side is I have a hard time remembering different exercises to do.  Heck, I have a hard time remembering my kids names. 

Pinterest to the rescue!  I have pinned tons of great exercises, but who wants to run and look at their monitor every minute?  Not me.  So, I decided to make a binder with all different circuit training options.  I can divide it up by body area so I am sure to work everything.  Don't want to  end up with super toned arms and a flabby butt.  At the beginning of the day, I can decide what to do and when I have a few free minutes, get my hind in gear! 

I will share a favorite exercise every Friday and update on my progress.  Hopefully I will not feel like a beached whale come June!

First favorite:  The Russian Twist.  Work those abs!