Stretch Saturday – Flexibility Challenge

Hi there!  So one of my major weaknesses is my flexibility.  I really want to work on this because I know it can help me in my form for my other exercises.

I’m calling this Flexible February Challenge.  Are you up for the challenge?  Is this one of your goals?

For this challenge I plan of holding each stretch for 1 min for a total of 10 mins a night.  My bigger goal is to be able to do the splits by the end of the year.

Left Hurdle

 

Right hurdle

 

Butterfly

 

 

 

Right Pigeon

 

 

 

Left Pigeon

 

Right straight leg hamstring

 

 

Right split (yes I know it’s bad, but that’s why I’m working on it)

 

Left straight leg hamstring

Left split

Straddle split

So join me in trying to hold each stretch for 1 min every night and let’s get flexible together.  Already can do the splits?  Then work to see if you can do an over split or pick another area that is not as flexible and hold that stretch for a min. every night.

 

Keep improving yourself gorgeous!

Try Something New, You Might Like It

Yesterday was Workout Wednesday and I wanted to share with you one my new discoveries.  I like seated cable flies over standing cable files.

We typically use one of the towers at the gym to do stand up cable files for a chest exercise.  However, the gym was busy and the tower was being used by multiple people.  So Pete and I decided to walk around the gym and find something else for a chest exercise.  We discovered a seated cable fly machine so we decided to try it.  I personally like it better.  It feels like it isolates my chest more and I could really feel the burn.  Grrr, #beastmode

Then at the end of the night we wanted to do one more back exercise.  We saw the wide grip bar and thought, why not try that with the row machine.  And so that’s what we did.  We started light and built up our weight each set just so we could get a feel for it.  I personally thought it felt a little different than our regular close grip rows, but not very different.  So I’m on the fence if I’ll keep it in my workout or not.

 

Overall it was a great workout and you never know if you’ll like something until you try it.  So don’t be afraid to try out new machines at the gym.  #WeAreStrong.

Let me know what you’ve tried new recently.

Push-up Challenge Recap

Wow, we made it.  We finished the first challenge.  I personally wanted to build up my push-ups to 50 and I thought what better way to get motivated than put out a challenge.  So that’s what I did.

I’ve been doing push-ups every morning in the range between 20-30 a day.  I decided to make a challenge where everyone could start at whatever level they were at and commit to doing push-ups everyday to build up their strength to do more over 4 weeks.

For me I started with 35 and every Monday I increased by 5, getting me to 50.  Then since the month ended on a Tuesday I decided to do as many as I could and I got 58, I was so excited.

The best part of the challenge was hearing from everyone.  Some people even posted their own videos, amazing.  It was also great to hear from people stating they are making this a new habit for themselves and they plan on keeping this up.  I’m so proud.

What’s your next goal?  Or what kind of challenge do you want?

Busy Weekend

Hi there, did you have a great weekend?  Mine was busy with school and family fun and that’s why I didn’t post anything earlier, but I wanted to make sure I got back to you with the new week.

My husband’s sister drove up from GA to VA to visit for the weekend.  It was also a school weekend for me, so I would go to school, visit with family, and squeeze in a workout to help keep my body feeling good, it’s a reward for me.  The family visit was a lot of fun because we got to witness her daughter being baptized and then celebrate the mother-in-law’s birthday.

Friday I knew we would want to see family as soon as I got out of class so I worked out in the morning.

Friday’s Workout:

HIIT each exercise for 20 secs, 10 sec rest, x3

Tuck jumps

Burpees

Squat jumping jacks

Mountain climbers

Plyo lunges

Burpees

Squat jumps

Mountain climber

Pilates

30 mins With Renee on Grokker

Then Saturday I had class from 8 am – 2:15 pm.  I decided to bring workout clothes just in case, but just wanted to spend the with family since there was going to be a baptism and celebrating my mother-in-laws birthday.  Towards the evening when everyone was just sitting around watching TV, my husband and I sneaked out for a 5 mile run

 

Then on Sunday I needed a day to just hang out with my husband.  We decided to do an 8.5 mile bike ride to enjoy the outdoors.

http://instagram.com/p/tOol6xRfFg/?modal=true

Even with a busy weekend we can make time to take care of our bodies and have fun while doing it.  I hope you see exercise as a reward like I do.

Today, Monday, is a rest day for me, but I still do my push-ups for my challenge.  I was so excited because with the help of the members of my challenge I reached my goal of doing 50 push-ups on my toes without stopping for the first time today.

If you set your mind to do something, we can do it, we are strong.

Riding Solo

Happy SundayFunday.  Today I started with my 35 push-ups.  This will be the last time I do this number.  I plan on increasing to 40 for my challenge.

Then today became the run around and do a bunch of errands type of day.  But I felt so productive and accomplished today.  My husband got to go to the OSU vs VT football game this weekend.  Tough game for us since he’s a Buckeye.  Since he’s out of town I had to workout on my own.  However, because I already set my mind up for my workout and made time for it, I get it done.

First I did an 8 mile bike ride.  This was my first time riding solo.  And only my 4th time on my bike.  I’m still getting used to it, but feeling stronger every time I ride.  I was a little nervous during the ride when I’m near cars, but overall it felt good being on my own and just feeling the air blow by me.

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Then it was Arm Day.  Even though I was by myself, I knew exactly what I wanted to do and felt strong.

-Dumbbell bicep curls
3×8 @ 25

-Skull crushers
3×8 @ 50

-Single arm thinker curls
3×8 @20

-Dumbbell tricep extensions
3×8 @20

-Hammer curls
3×8 @20

-Dips
25 reps

 

I hope you had a great SundayFunday, and maybe even got to see some NFL football.  HTTR.  I can’t wait to see my husband tonight.  Good Night.

Labor Day

Hi there, I hope you were able to enjoy the holiday today.  I really enjoyed being able to sleep in this morning.  Then I increased my push-ups to 35 this morning for my push-up challenge.  I can’t believe I have 97 people joining me in this challenge.  It feels so great to influence that many people to increase their push-up strength and health.  The challenge is to increase the number of push-ups you can do by the end of the month.  Since everyone is at different levels I’m letting them set their own goals.  Mine is to build up to 50 by the end of the month.

My husband and I first ran over to the gym to get a quick Arm Day workout in.

-Preacher Curls
3×8 @40lb bar

-Skull Crushers
3×8 @50lb bar

-Hammer Curls
1×10 @20
2×8 @25

-Tricep Pull-Down
3×8 @100

-Cable Column Bicep Curl
Drop Set
8 reps @40
10reps @20
12reps @10

-Dips
25 reps

After the gym I wanted to get some cardio in and ride our bikes.  There’s a local work complex near us that is a 6 mile hilly loop where a lot of people run or ride their bikes so the cars are used to it and being a holiday not many cars would be out there anyways, so that’s where we decided to go.  We ended up doing 8 miles, which is my longest ride so far.  It was a difficult ride because I’m not used to the hills yet, but it felt so good too.  Also I was excited to try out my new cycling shorts, shirt, and water bottle we got this weekend.  Normally my bum is sore after a ride, but getting biker shorts really helped this time.

 

After a great morning/afternoon of working out we spent the rest of the day with family and friends.  I made this potato salad I found on pinterest.  It’s way more healthy and tastes better in my opinion than a traditional mayonnaise based salad.  My changes:

-I’m a little lazy so instead of cutting up tomatoes I use a can of petite diced tomatoes

-Instead of finely chopped shallot, I just use some onion powder

-I don’t add 1 packet Stevia

 

It was great relaxing with family, getting outside, and even playing a little soccer with the nephew at the family BBQ.  I hope you enjoyed your holiday today and got in some exercise as well.

 

 

Listen to Your Body

Hi there, if you noticed I didn’t post a workout yesterday.  I apologize for those looking forward to it, but I had to listen to my body and take a rest.  The last couple of days my throat was getting soar and it felt like I was getting a summer cold.  I think with work, and starting school back up again, and still trying to keep up with my work out schedule it was a bit much for my body to take in so rapidly.

 

Yesterday I did my 30 push-ups and 4 sets of 25 bathroom squats.  But after dinner I got ready for bed early and just slept.  It felt so good.  Today I also did my push-ups and squats during the day.  I felt much better this morning after a long sleep.  After work I still felt a little tired so I took a nap.  I don’t usually get this luxury so I took it while I could.  After I got up I felt 100% better.

I felt so good I wanted to get a quick cardio workout before going to the gym for chest/back day. I follow lina_fit on instagram and she had this workout posted today.  I really like the squat jumps and burpees because they get my heart rate up quickly.

Cardio

20 Squat Jumps

25 Crunches

10 Burpees 60 sec Plank

20 Tuck Jumps

20 Reverse Crunches

20 Plank jacks

25 Bicycle Crunches

repeat circuit 3x

 

Then I went to the gym with my husband

Chest/Back

-Bench Press
warm-up 1×5 @95
3×8 @115

-Pull-ups
8, 6, 5
I was so excited because I hit my PR, 8 in a row.

-Cable Flies
1×8 @40
2×8 @50

-Cable Rows
3×8 @100

-Incline dumbbell Bench Press
3×8 @40

-Inverted Rows
3×10 (body weight)

Core

1 min front plank

30 sec each side plank with leg up

 

I’m so glad I listened to my body and let it rest so then I could get right back out there to get strong.  I hope you had a great Hump Day and remember to listen to your body.

 

 

Trying Something New

Hi there, hope you had a great Saturday.  Today was my 3rd day in a row going to class, but only for a half day this time.  We only have these long weekends the first weekend of a semester then it’s only every other Friday and Saturday.  By the end of class my brain was fried.  I still started the day with my 30 push-ups and about 4 sets of 25 bathroom squats.  I’m thinking about coming up with a push-up challenge soon so keep an eye out for that.

After class I really needed to recharge.  I took a nap then got on my new toy.

I haven’t been on a bike since high school and back then it wasn’t a 10 speed bike, just your traditional simple bike.  This was probably my 3rd or 4th time taking out this bike for a ride, but I’m liking it so far.  I definitely need to invest in some shorts soon.  My bum luckily didn’t hurt too much during the ride, but afterwards I feel the pain.

My husband and I rode for about 35 mins and covered about 7.5 miles.  We are new at this so I know that wasn’t that fast, but I felt like I got a good workout.  We’ve been runners most of our lives and actually that’s how we met.  We were on the track team back in high school together, awww.  But we actually didn’t start dating until after college.  Recently we wanted to change up our cardio and that’s why we decided to get into cycling.  On to a  new adventure.

 

So at this moment I’m trying to push hard to catch up to my husband who decided to pull way ahead of me and I’m thinking I hope he doesn’t feel like I’m holding him back in our workout.  But actually he was just trying to get ahead so he could take a picture of me.  Thanks honey.

At the very end we did a quick sprint for about a half mile and I kept up with him so I was proud of that.  If you couldn’t tell, I’m very competitive.

After our fun ride we were able to go out to a going away party and enjoy our Saturday with friends.  I hope you had a great start to your weekend as we did.

Good Night.