I'm baaaack!

Geeze it feels like I've been gone forever (yes I did just say geeze for the first time since the 3rd grade, don't run away though! Much crazier things come out of this mouth!) I've been out doin my thang, livin' life and having fun but I've missed the bloggy. Nevermind  the fact that I keep finding awesome blogs to subscribe to and the Google Reader has reached over 300 unread posts, yikes! I'm thinking I need to trim it down a lot little.

I have copious amounts of pictures to share but as I get back into the swing of things (i.e. not being an internet hermit) I'm going to try to get on a posting schedule where every day of the week will be something different. It doesn't necessarily mean that I'll post everyday but when I do it will be on a specific thing. That way I can't use my guilt of not posting or a lack of immediate ideas as a reason not to post :O)

Today's post will be a workout tip. As I've become a gym addict rat, I catch myself watching other people as they workout and other trainers as they work with clients just to see how other people do things. Its become a great way to find new and innovative ways to work my muscles. I hate workout boredom and for me that means switching it up a lot. This move I saw my trainer do with another client and then we tried it together with hilariously painful results :O)

 I bring you Windshield Wiper Abs!

Awhile ago in Women's Health I saw this picture talking about the "toughest ab move ever"

A move so tough, that they had have a person hold her up and then photoshop him out of the picture (kudos to WH for admitting it!)

It was a move that I never thought I could do. Ever. And I love me some tough ab moves. However, after I saw a modified version, I thought I should give it a try.

To start: This is done on a Smith Machine 

 You'll adjust the bar so that it's at about waist height. Put some weight (I use 25 pound plates) on each end so that it won't move. You wont be lifting the bar at all, it's just there to hang on to (and believe me, you'll need it!)

Procedure:
 1. Position an exercise ball underneath the bar and lay down on it. Your butt should be off or almost off the ball.
2. Now kick your legs up vertical.
3. While hanging onto the bar, tilt your legs as far as you can go to one side, without sliding off the ball, then bring them back to center.
4. Tilt your legs to the opposite side as far as you can go and bring them back to center.
5. Tip your legs straight out (Ideally your body would make a straight plank resting on the exercise ball) and bring them back up to vertical.

That's one rep. Killer I know! Start with as many as you can (I do about 10) and work up to multiple sets of 10-12 with plenty of rest in between (at least 1 minute)

Variations: Not quite up to it yet? here's some "easier" versions... I use quotes because, well, they're all hard.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6TM2vL1w04- Flat on the floor, legs straight up.
    -Easier: Knees bent
    -Harder Put exercise ball between your feet (hands straight out to make a T for stability)

Working up to being able to do this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0pFY_TQ1400

Crazy I know! Ps. Sorry for the YouTube links... I  don't quite know how to embed a video from YT onto here. Let me know if you try it! I've personally done the exercise ball method and my abs were so sore the next day. It was awesome!

Something to think about:
*What's your favorite ab move?
*Ever get tips from watching other people (exercise or non-exercise related) that you just loved?

i've been googled

Well Google Reader'ed that is. I've been a little low on energy the last few days, so I've been majorly slacking in the blog reading department. It probably doesn't help that I have over 40 subscriptions, most of which update regularly. I've basically left it alone for the past 2 days (except for my daily dose of crack info from my faves) and now i have 102 new posts! That's gonna take a while to get through :O) I think an afternoon of laying bed with Gilmore Girls (best show evaaaa!) and Google Reader might be in order!

Yesterday was a blasty! I went into the gym and did 30 minutes of HIIT (high intensity interval training) on the treadmill. I walked at 4.0 mph  for 1 minute and then sprinted at either 7.0, 7.5, or 8.0 mph. All at 2% incline. Plus 5 minutes on either side for warm up and cool down. In all honesty, I only ran at 8.0 mph 2 or 3 times because 1 minute is a long time to sprint that fast! By the time I was done I was a sweaty mess but I'd burned about 700 calories! Not bad at all for 40 minutes total. I'm usually the one that's in the gym for 1 1/2 hours, sometimes longer by the time I stretch and foam roll so it was nice to get in a quick but super sweaty workout.

Yesterday afternoon, I went hiking with one of my badass bootcamp chicas. It was a super steep climb, completely covered in loose slippery rock. My core must have gotten a bangin workout from trying to keep my balance! And of course my legs were practically jello by the time we got to the top.

I have to say that I adore hiking. I think it's a great workout and a lot of fun to get outside. I am blessed to live in an area that has tons of trails within a short distance. However, I am used to trail hiking. This "hike" was more like scaling the side of a rocky mountain- no trail whatsoever. For trail hiking, I just wear a pair of good tennis shoes. I've had hiking boots, but they were too ugly and uncomfortable to go anywhere near my feet. Which brings me to the interesting part of my saga. The hike was fine on the way up, if a little treacherous at points. However, on the way down, we slid almost halfway down the hill on the loose rock. It was actually a lot of fun until we hit really hard ground barely covered in loose gravel. My feet hit a slippery spot and whooshed out from under me, planting me straight on my heinie. It hurt (badly) but I kept on going thinking I was fine. When I got home and was getting ready to jump in the shower, I noticed a little bruise forming and it hurt a little. By the time I went to bed last night I had a giant black and blue bruise covering about 1/2 of my left butt cheek. TMI? probably, but it's so painful I had to share my misery with someone! I wanted to post pics but there is no way to do so without major exposure, so I won't! Not quite ready to get that personal with the bloggy :O)

Needless to say, I went out and bought hiking boots today :O)

me vs. the stairclimber

Fyi... I won :O) ohhhhh yeah! This morning brought a serious sweat sesh with the momma. That's been one of my favorite things about this summer (aside from the copious amounts of fresh fruit I've been consuming)... working out with my momma :O)

Reason number 6,983 why I adore her... Today she told me I'm her go to girl for fitness info and advice... aww! Good to know all that research is helpin someone besides myself :)

Me n my momma last summer

Today we started with a brief foam roller sesh (this thing saves my muscles during my runs!)

Then did about 15 ish minutes of warm up on the Treadmill. I walked at 4.0- 4.5 mph and 1.5% incline. I've found that walking and running at a little bit of an incline has saved my knees, calves, and ankles from pain. Bonus: inclines burn more calories.... To start I did 8 minutes of walking, 5 minutes of running at 5.5 mph and then walked for about 2 ish minutes.

Then we went on to do the ab circuit of doom.

Ab Circuit of Doom

Figure 8's: Using a cable machine (like the one pictured below) hold onto 1 of the handles (with cable up at top of the post just like in the picture). Bring the handle down to the side of one knee (you'll be slightly bent over) and then around and up over your head in a figure 8 motion. 

Do for 30-45 seconds.

Cable oblique crunch on ball:  Lie down on an exercise ball so your shoulder blades are resting on the ball but not your entire head. Grasp handle with both hands extended over your head. In one smooth motion, pull cable over your shoulder towards your opposite knee until you are in a crunch position. Relax back until extended but not so far that the weight touches the stack (maintain tension through the entire exercise)

Do for 30-45 seconds.

Tips:

• I use the rope attachment for this one but it could be  done with any handle. Make sure the cable is positioned all the way at the bottom
• I know it sounds complicated but it's not that bad! I use the other side of the cable machine (since I did it with a partner) but you could easily just move the cable to the bottom.
• Make sure you get good diagonal motion to really hit that oblique.
• You will move around on the exercise ball a little bit, that's okay! It just means you're a little unstable and your core is working harder.

Planks: Start with 30 seconds of plank up/downs. Then hold a regular plank position (on forearms) for 30 seconds.

Medicine ball crunches: Hold a medicine ball overhead and simultaneously bring arms and legs up together. Same as a V Up except with a medicine ball in your hands. Do for 30 seconds. Then, lay flat on the ground with hands (holding med ball) over head. In one smooth motion sit up into a crunch and bring 1 leg up. Drop medicine ball around the back of the leg that's up and then lay back down. Rotate between each leg for 30 seconds.

We did 2 sets of each exercise split into 2 circuits. 2 sets of the first 2 exercises and then 2 sets of the last 2. By the end we were both in major abdominal pain! Next time, I think we'll switch it up so that we aren't doing 2 back to back oblique exercises, that was way too tough.

I followed that up with 20 minutes of HIIT on the stairclimber. I did 40 seconds at 60 steps a minute and 40 seconds at 140 steps a minute. By the end I was one majorly sweaty beast. Me and the stairclimber, we have a love/hate relationship. I love it at the end when I'm all sweaty and exhausted but in the middle I absolutely hate it. It's one of those machines I would NEVER do without tunes.

I finished up with 10 minutes of HIIT on the treadmill. I did 40 seconds @ 7.5 mph and 1 minute 20 seconds @ 4.0 mph... the entire thing at an incline of 1.5%. I cooled down with a 5 minute walk and then dragged my sweaty body over to do the foam rollin and stretchin thing before bustin outtta the gym.

For today's workout we were at the gym for almost 2 hours, whew! I burned a massive 1418 calories with a max heart rate of 181 and average of 151. Not bad at all :O) It always feels good to get a super sweaty gym sesh in on Monday mornings; it helps me set the week off on a good foot. Plus after today's workout I didn't feel bad indulging in a couple of these bad boys

 Homemade oatmeal raisin cookies... yum :O) And since it has oatmeal AND raisins, they are totally healthy right? Yup I thought so too :O)

Happy Monday!

Recuperating

Hello bloggy! I've missed you so :O) I took a few days longer than planned off to visit the bestie for her birthday. I had a blast staying up way too late, running, playing, pedicuring (is that even a word? Don't know but my toes look perrrty!), eating way too much junk food, and just generally having a good time.

This trip took me through not 1 but 2 birthday parties which means double the party food. Plus being at her house I didn't want to be my usually picky self. To me nothing says rude like "nope I won't eat that because it's not organic/vegetarian/flour free, etc. I gave myself leeway to relax the eating rules and be okay with it. It was easier to say at first because I was only planning on staying 1 night but that quickly turned into 2 plus a whole day :O) What can I say, I love me some Lizzy time!

Even though I was out of town, I managed to get some good workouts in! We went and played beach volleyball for a couple hours Saturday afternoon which was actually a lot of fun! I made the best of my new running shoes and her cute neighborhood to get in a good run Sunday morning. I ran the better part of 3 miles and then walked 2 just because it was too nice to be inside. And then Monday we hit the gym for a nice sweaty treadmill sesh and some brutal ab moves that left me hurtin. It helped me feel a lot better about what I had ate :O)

We did a bit of shopping, got our toes done (pics to follow!), and spent hours on end talking about anything and everything. Somehow by the end of it she had me almost convinced to move down there! I left laaaaate Monday afternoon and it felt so good to sleep in my own bed last night!

Today started off with a sweaty bootcamp sesh with the super trainer, it was tough after the weekend but so worth it at the end. After he finished us off and left us in a pile of sweat and ab pain on the floor, he told us to go do a 20 minute stair challenge to see how many floors we could do in that time. Man it was brutal! But I hit 124 floors which is 4 more than last time woohoo! It was so tough mentally, but helped me switch over from splurge mentality to normal mode. I already feel better and more energized after the weekend.

I could definitely tell my eating had been off this weekend because once I started putting good food in it, I was starving all day long. I literally felt like I couldn't eat enough, it was crazy. And all I was craving was veggies, fruits, nut butters, and protein. I filled my belly with lots of whole, raw foods and maybe a chocolate chip cookie :O) It's like my belly was saying "Hey, remember when you used to feed me good food last week??? Yeah lets go back to that and never stop okay? Thanks, your tummy" Yup, my tummy sends me messages... especially when I don't fuel it properly.

I had a lengthy post all planned up in my noggin but even after a day of recuperation (including a nap!) I am still exhausted so it will have to wait until tomorrow. Coming up this week (hopefully):

• My epiphany from this weekend
• Foods I can't live without
• Giving my body a break/ My life as a cardio addict

facing fear

Fear is a funny thing isn't it? It's completely intangible and yet one of the most crippling things possible. I must admit that even though I am physically strong, I am still mentally weak and often plagued by fear. I won't go into my list of quirky irrational fears but trail running is one of them.

I have not the slightest clue why I was  scared to run outside or even if fear is really the correct term for it. Several times this spring I've planned to hit the trail for a run outside and break away from the treadmill for awhile. I love me some treadmill runs and get a great workout on them, but when the only thing there is to look at is the sweaty guy lifting weights in front of you, it gets boring quick. Especially because no cute boys work out at 5:30 in the morning. I've been excited to try running outdoors and even bought cute new running shoes and gear but for whatever reason could never make myself actually go out and do it.

However, today that all changed :O) I had a free morning and it was beautiful and sunny so I told myself that I could either go for a trail run or I would have to go to the gym and workout. Running outdoors won by a long shot. Instead of heading out around my neighborhood where I could quit at anytime I went down to the trail that runs by the river, warmed up and started running. I was shocked at how easy it was right off the bat, much easier than any treadmill run. Before I knew it, I had run 2 miles without stopping. I thought I would have needed to walk a lot but I took my time pacing myself and slowing down when I needed it. I had been hoping to hit 3 miles total but 2 miles in I still felt good so I went another 1/2 mile before turning around.

The second half was definitely more mentally challenging. I knew what was ahead of me this time and by now, I was starting to get a little tired and very sweaty. I kept pushing through and told myself walking breaks were okay but whenever I stopped to walk my legs just kept pushing me forward. Kind of like that feeling you get when you don't slow down on the treadmill before jumping off? My legs always feel like they should still be moving much faster, that's how it felt. So I kept running and hit 5 miles right at the trailhead. I walked another 1/4 of a mile to cool down and then stretched out and headed home.

I felt so good afterwards. It was definitely very mentally challenging on the way back. I never wanted to give up because my lungs were burning or my knees hurt, only because I felt like I would never make it back or just started freaking out about the distance. I am definitely going to keep working on my mental toughness as I increase my mileage and speed.

Things I learned:

• I could be a runner and I love running
• Trail running is better than treadmill running- the scenery distracted me and made it more enjoyable
• I am tougher than I thought
• Fuel properly- first thing I did when I got home was make a HUGE salad best loaded with protein and veggies followed by a Clif Bar. I was starving to the point of dizziness- not good at all
• Hydrate properly- I am definitely going to have to start bringing my water backpack. I guzzled my water bottle (I had it in my car to free up my hands) by the time I was out of the parking lot and proceeded to drink at least 7 more within the next few hours (without a bursting bladder I might add). Thats 192 oz of water!!
• Good shoes make all the difference- a day later and no foot or knee pain at all
• Cardio can be just as effective outside as on a gym machine- I burned 1218 calories in 1 hr 8 minutes! That's insane (and also explains the ravenous hunger)
• I don't have to live my life in the gym to be healthy- greatest revelation of all :O)

 Post run/pre-crash happiness

Happy Saturday bloggies! I'm off to celebrate my girlfriend's birthday out of town so I'll be MIA for a few days. 

love love love :O)

exercise and illness

Tonight's post brought to you courtesy of The Fitnessista's bootay kicking butt and back SSU workout (day 3 if you're looking at that page). Yowza, my heinie is going to be in pain tomorrow... so happy :O)  Last week, I tried to do both of her week 2 strength routines, together. Yes I am crazy in case you were wondering. And while it brought great results, it was seriously difficult to make it through 2 sets. Today, I knew very well that my slightly sick body just wouldn't have that so I did just the butt and back (which is per usual on Thursdays). I played it smart and listened to my body and went in this afternoon when my energy was better than this morning.

However, I did a running warm up and was sucking air after running for only 10 minutes. I had intended to do a 5 minute walking warm up and then 15 minutes of HIIT but after 1 interval I was seriously winded. I brought it down to a jog and sucked it up for the next 10 minutes and then walked the last 5. I checked my heart rate monitor, and the numbers were good, definitely nothing high enough to exhaust me. I continued on with my weight workout and everything just felt a lot more difficult. I was getting frustrated but kept pushing through and ended up having a great workout.

I know that my workout was so hard because I'm still not physically 100%. I still have many cold-like symptoms but nothing contagious at this point. I know that being sick just sucked out all of my energy and that I should be patient until it returns, but its so frustrating to attempt a workout that I did just a week before and have it be way more difficult this time. I probably should have listened to my body and lightened up the weights a little but I was so gung-ho about being back in the gym on a regular basis that I just pushed through.

Was I healthy enough for a workout? absolutely. Should I have pushed myself that hard for that long? Probably not. Is it better to stay home or get a good sweat sesh in when you aren't feeling 100%? Truthfully I don't know. I take it on a case by case basis. 2 weeks ago I had a bit of a head cold and managed to sweat it out in the gym (until I lost my voice). This time, I knew that I needed a break to rest up and heal. I've heard people who swear by both methods. I'm trying to listen to my body and let it tell me what it needs but sometimes that is way easier said than done.

Lazy Sundays

Today was one of those unplanned lazy Sundays that I didn't realize how badly I needed it until it happened. Yup, try saying that sentence three times fast :O) I woke up around 7:30 (woohoo for sleeping in!) and laid in bed until about 8:30 before dragging my heiny outta bed to get ready for church, only to discover that it was pouring down rain here... So much for the sunny, warm weather we were having!

I haven't been feeling good (again). I just had a cold/laryngitis 2 weeks ago and never 100% healed from it, and now it's back as a head cold, so I decided to stay home from church and rest up. I crawled back in bed, popped in some Gilmore Girls (Best show ever!), and proceeded to spend the next 3 hours Facebooking, catching up on Google Reader, and enjoying some mindless TV entertainment... all while in bed. It was a pretty great morning, and desperately needed as I am exhausted from teaching all week. Only 1 more to go until summer break!

I am a bit curious if part of this was attributed to my monster workout yesterday. I was feeling really brave so I walked to the gym with my daddy and then did both of The Fitnessista's week 2 SSU strength workouts (Days3 & 6). In my defense, I only did two sets of each exercise but it still took over an hour. When all was said and done, with the walk there and back I had burned a whopping 1,584 calories!!! In 1 hour and 53 minutes.... CRAAAAAZY!! That is most definitely a record, and the highest number since I got the Polar HRM. It was amazing, and I felt so good; exhausted but good.

This morning, I was SUPER sore. My inner thighs are dying thanks to the sumo deadlifts, my chest/arms are completely sore from chest fly's on the exercise ball and pushups. Side note: Post workout, they were still shaking 2 hours later, so badly that I couldn't blow dry my hair because I couldn't lift them up! Now that's what I call a good workout. I am totally in love with the renegade rows... I feel like a badass doing them! Overall, the workout was amazing (obviously) but I definitely won't attempt to do both strength days at once again. That was pure insanity!

I'm off to bake butterscotch cookies with the sister and play with the puppers. Toodles!

Sunday morning kinda feelin

“Sunday is the golden clasp that binds together the volume of the week” -Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Sundays for me are a day of rest. Its the day I spend the morning with my family in church, worshiping God. Its the day we sit down and eat a meal together. Its the day we spend the afternoon doing miscellaneous things around the house or out and about, together. Since I've returned to church, it has become one of my favorite days of the week, made all the more special because the brother is home from college right now. I am one happy girl :O)

 I love my brother :O)

This afternoon we went on a family hike. It was one of those times that I realized how blessed I am to live where I do. Within 10 miles, there are at least 25 (possibly many many more) trails perfect for walking, trail running, trail biking, and hiking of all intensity levels. It's wonderful :O) Over the past couple months, we've tried out quite a few new ones, and now I'm itching to start trying out some trail running.

Got the bladder ready to go! (my nickname for the

Camelback, since mine's a High Sierra)

Other brother being very silly... sister in

the background.

It was the perfect day for hiking, about 65-70F... warm enough to be enjoyable, not so hot you are dying. The trail wasn't very hilly which was nice, plus it was lined with many pretty flowers and weird bush looking things.

The doggies couldn't wait to get a move on... they've gotten used to hiking without being on a leash (shhhh! Don't tell!) but there were too many people out today so they had to stay leashed the whole time.

I used my new Polar F11 HRM today... It was amazing! I didn't worry about hitting the right zones, I just wanted to see how many calories I burned. I hit 628 calories in 1 hour and 20 min. This is exactly why I bought this! I got an amazing workout in on my rest day! Now I don't have to feel guilty at all when I skip the gym this summer in favor of an outdoor workout.

I also grabbed my pedometer to track mileage and we hit almost 4 miles in that time. It was a nice leisurely hike :O)

This is home :O)

This evening was nice and relaxing too. My padre went and got pizza from Papa Murphy's, he even got a deLite pizza for me and my mommy to help us eat healthier :O) I started off with a turkey burger to fill me up and followed it with 2 slices of pizza. Then I made pesto! I just got a fancy schmancy food processor for Christmas and have hardly used it (it's great for shredding cheese, yum!). The other day when I went shopping, I picked up some fresh basil. I followed this recipe @ Girl Heroes except I cut down on the olive oil and cheese by about half. I probably should have made it exactly like the recipe, but it sounded like a calorie bomb so I eased up a little. I'm going to try it on my Ezekiel toast in the future. 

Not tomorrow though because I made another batch of Overnight Oats! (the first were consumed this morning). I loosely followed this recipe from Oh She Glows except that my recipe went like this:

1/3 cup Oats (I used quick cooking because that's all I have at the moment)

1/2 cup milk (this morning I used 1 cup and they were too watery, so I'm cutting it down for round 2)

1/2 scoop when protein powder

I mixed it up and left it in the fridge. In the morning I'll add 1 packet Truvia, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 1 tablespoon Almond Butter and enjoy the creamy sweet deliciousness as a post-workout recovery breakfast. I can't wait to dig into it.

I'm off to continue slugging through Jackie Warner's "This is Why You're Fat" and enjoy the last of my Sunday laziness :O)

Total Body Workout #1

So here's the killer workout that I did this morning. I love it because it is tough, but completely different than standard lifting weights, even in the ways that the trainer had me do it.

Disclaimer: This workout was made for me by my trainer. He is an expert on exercise, I am not. You should always consult your doctor before starting an exercise regimen. Be safe, don't be stupid.

Note: All exercises are performed on a pulley machine. Weight amount really depends on the pulley machine itself, there are 2 different pulley contraptions in my gym and my weight varies on them by about 20 pounds (weird I know). It should be hard to complete 10- 12 reps and your muscles should be screaming by round 2.

Note 2: All exercises are performed using a "tricep rope"

Except for #5 which is done using a metal bar of some sort. I usually use one that looks like this:

Image source

#1. Woodchop to knee- 10 reps each side
*I do it this way, but I also start in a lunge position and bring it down to my knee, that way it works a wider range of ab muscles as well as my arms (especially the triceps). Plus by the end my legs are slightly fatigued. Do 10 reps each side here too.

#2. Reverse Nazi Walks- 10 reps
*Seriously horrible name I know, and don't even get me started on what I found when I tried to see if there was a description on Google.
*To do this exercise, lower the weight to a point where you can hold onto the rope handles with your arms straight above your head. Make sure you are standing in a straight line as this will help work the abs as well as the arms. Take 8-10 steps out, with high knees (like up to your belly button high) and then do the reverse without turning around. Then do it again, that's one set.

Repeat #'s 1-2 in a circuit for a total of 3 sets. Cable cord should be set up as high on the bar as it goes (close to or above your head).

#3. Squatted Row- 12-15 reps
*Same motion but use the rope instead and make sure you stay in a squat position for the entire 12 reps, your quads should be burning as much (if not more) than your back/arm muscles!

#4. Reverse Woodchop- 10-12 reps each side
*Make sure your grip on the rope is the reverse of the other exercises. The grips at the end of the rope should be pointing towards your nose (as opposed to pointing to your toes in #'s 1-2)
*Fling the rope over your shoulder, using your abs and legs for momentum.

Repeat #'s 3-4 in a circuit for a total of 3 sets. Cable cord should be set to low (near your feet).

#5. Front Squat- 20 reps
*Remember: use the metal bar for this one!
*Resistance should be tough enough that your legs and abs are hurting by rep 10
*Save your wrists! Roll bar up onto collarbone area and stick elbows out at a 90 degree angle (words of wisdom directly from the trainer)

#6. Cable Oblique Crunch- 12-15 reps each side
*Keep the motion but extend arms and crunch up to one side of the knee. Aiming for the hand to hit the outside of the opposite knee.
*You're back to the rope on this one, use the switching time to recover!
*Yup this one's a doozy, it will cause you severe pain but also leave you with some seriously smokin abs :O)

Repeat #'s 5-6 in a circuit for a total of 3 sets. Cable cord should be set to low (by your feet).

And if you've got anything left after that...
#7: Full Body Thrusts- 3 sets (set 1: 20 reps, set 2: 15 reps, Set 3: 12 reps)
*I couldn't find an accurate description of this one either, boo to that. Grab a moderate sized weight (I use 10 pounds) and stand shoulder width apart with one weight in each hand. Squat down until the weight almost touches the ground and then rapidly fire the legs to propel you up and thrust your arms over your head (into an overhead press) while simultaneously coming up onto your toes. Do each set as rapidly as possible (to get the heart rate up) and then alternate with your favorite ab exercise... I did:

*30 crunches- bringing knees and head together simultaneously
*Leg scissors (That's my term- I don't remember what the trainer called them... torture maybe?) NOTE: I do mine a little slower and do them as a 4 count per rep. So I count in my head (as my legs move...well hopefully!) 1, 2, 3, and then the rep #... 1. And then 1, 2, 3.... 2. And I went until 15, so you do the math there, I'm too tired :O)
*Reverse Crunch- 20 reps... I do it on the bench and keep my legs fully extended the entire time, no bent knees.



And there you have it. By the end you should be a huge sweaty mess. Once I've survived that, I go grab a super amazing foam roller:

Source

And once I'm done rolling and stretching my muscles, I collapse in a sweaty heap on the gym floor head for home for a shower and a recovery meal. Enjoy :O)

TGIF + New Heartrate Monitor

Whew! What a week. I only worked three and a half days but man am I exhausted! It was just one of those weeks that really takes it out of you. On the positive note, there are many good things to post about!

*I am completely and totally in love with Ezekiel bread. In fact, I can't believe it took me this long to find it! I heard about it awhile ago but you can chalk it up with my low carb bread hating past that I wouldn't even consider buying it. However, I am loving all the protein and fiber and the fact that I just found out its sold at Fred Meyer!!!! So I stocked up with an extra loaf today plus I splurged on a loaf of the cinnamon raisin bread :O) I'm super excited to have that for breakfast tomorrow!
* I have also been eating a ridiculous amount of the millet & flax crackers (usually with fat free cream cheese or some organic peach jam on top-- yum!). I am definitely going to have to go back and try the garlic and cinnamon flavors. Please note those are two different flavors!!
*I am currently reading Racing Weight by Matt Fitzgerald and so far there is some really amazing info in there. It was a little dry for a Friday afternoon (I have to admit, I almost dozed off once... not because it was boring, I was just really tired!) It definitely seems to be geared towards people who are already extremely athletic but I've found some good running tips in there too. I'll do a full review post when I'm done.
*I have done 2 days of the Fitnessista's "Summer Shape Up 2010" so far and  it is one butt kicking workout. I haven't been sore in months (except for when I pulled the hammy a couple weeks ago). I take a bootcamp class from the trainer once a week and work/sweat/die for a brutal hour and I am more sore now than I ever have been from the class. I love it!

*I really wanted to post more about what I'm currently doing as far as exercise, nutrition, and supplements but that post went out the window as soon as this arrived on my doorstep yesterday afternoon!

My brand spankin' new Polar F11 HRM!!!

I was so excited, I squealed for a second. Once I got myself under control, I set out to figure out how it works. It was pretty user friendly but there are a lot of different options depending on how its being used at the time and what mode its in, so it's been a little confusing. But I love it! I took it out on a hike with the doggies and the brother and it worked awesome. I can definitely see that this will be my summer workout staple so I don't have to hit the gym all the time.

I also took it with me to the gym this morning and it was so motivating to watch the calorie count keep going up and up and up. I did Gina's day 6 workout today even though it's only Friday (IE: my day 5... and I've only done day 1 so far this week because of other workouts) . I would love to say that there is some logic in my choice but honestly, it was 5:30 a.m., there's no logic happening at that hour! So day 6 is speed aka HIIT (High Intensive Interval Training) or more commonly know as death a big stinky sweatfest all over the treadmill :O) I warmed up and then alternated running at a 6.5-7.0 mph for 1 minute with 1 minute at 5.2mph. I can totally see how doing this will make me a much better runner and help my speed and mile times. After finishing it off with 15 minutes on the arc trainer, I saw that I had burned almost 1100 calories!!! Way over double what the treadmill said, weehooo! Probably explains why I'm so stinkin hungry today.

Tomorrow will hopefully bring muscles recovered enough for Saturday strength workouts (usually the best of the week!) or at least some cardio and possibly a yoga class. If the weather holds up I may skip the gym altogether and take the HRM and the doggies out for a hike... Okay I'm off to paint my toes and then head to bed early; I love me some sleep :O)