Running Errands

I am so lucky to live in a small town where many of the places I frequent are within 3 miles of my house.   I am also very blessed to live in the sunshine state which makes getting out for walks and runs with my kiddos a daily activity on a year-round basis.  Thankfully, my kids LOVE to be outside and LOVE riding in their stroller which makes getting out a breeze!  As my boys have gotten more active, so have I, and it has been fun coming up with creative ways to multitask and keep up their growing interests and my evolving fitness.  One of my latest tricks is to literally RUN errands. I put the boys in the stroller and run to the bank, then run accross the street to the drugstore.  I can pop in the grocery store if needed and even hit up the park for the boys to run off some of their own steam along the way.  The post office and downtown are all within running distance as well.  The other day, I got in a 5 mile run, playtime at the park, a letter to the post office, a deposit to the bank, and a prescription picked up all in the same outing.  Oh, and did I mention the boys nap fantastically in the stroller?  It kept us all engaged as we hopped from one place to another, seeing lots of different things, gave me a workout and the boys some rest which left us all ready to conquer the rest of our day.  If it's feasible for you, especially with springtime in the air and most of the country experiencing some better weather, I encourage you to load up the stroller (if you've got kids) and lace up your running shoes rather than hop in the car to run your errands.  Let me know what you think...

Upper Body Blitz Etc.

Yesterday I got in a killer arm workout that has my arms still feeling the burn in a good way.  I knew I wanted to focus on my chest and back, but didn't want to leave my arms or core out in the process and I came up with this nice little workout that I will definitley be repeating again.  Hopefully it gets easier each time I do it because my arms were screaming yesterday as I tried to eak out the last reps of each superset.  My workout looked like this:

• Back Giant Set using bent over narrow rows, bent over wide rows, and bent over renegades. 
• 3 rounds:
• First round: 20 reps of each exercise followed by 100 reps of various biceps curls
• Second round: 15 reps of each exercise followed by 100 reps of various triceps exercises
• Third round: 10 reps of each exercise followed by 100 reps of various shoulder exercises.
• Chest Giant Set chest press, chest flyes and renegades, all done on an stability ball.
• 3 rounds:
• First round: 20 reps of each exercise followed by 100 reps of mountain climbers.
• Second round: 15 reps of each exercise followed by 1 minute plank with forearms on stability ball.
• Third round: 10 reps of each exercise followed by 2 minute plank.

I used 15 pound dumbbells for the back and chest exercises and 8 pound dumbbells for the arm exercises. Success!

Today's workout focused on legs.  I wasn't feeling too creative so I used the old standby--a Jackie Warner circuit workout which banged out the workout in 15 minutes.  Cardio included 40 minutes on the elliptical so I could finish up my book for book club tonight.  I highly recommend The American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld. 

Tomorrow I'm due for another run.  After a 5k on Saturday, where I got a PR by the way, and a 10 mile stroller run on Sunday, my legs needed a couple of days off from running but they're ready to go for tomorrow.  Haven't decided where, how long, or whether I'll bring the stroller or not.  I guess we'll see what tomorrow and my two teething toddlers brings...

Make it a great day!

Maintenance Mode

Working out and staying on track with an eating plan is EXTREMELY difficult when company comes to visit.  With spring break and the boys' birthday, March is full of visitors so I have decided that rather than setting myself up for disappointment by setting unrealistic goals for myself, my goal will be to maintain my current fitness and be ready to kick it up a notch when April arrives and our day-to-day schedule returns to normal.  Don't get me wrong, I'm still getting to the gym at lifting weights least 3 times a week and making sure to get in 3 runs a week, being sure to throw a long run into the mix, but I know that many workouts will be rushed or adapted to the days' schedule.   I may not get to the gym as much as I'd like, but that doesn't mean I can't squeeze in some quickie at-home workouts with my dumbbells, mat, and exercise ball.  I can give myself a kick-butt workout in 10-15 minutes and I plan to utilize my DVD workouts as well.  Dropsets, supersets, speedwork, here I come!  This is the month of getting the most bang for my buck.  I've planned the following workouts this week and so far I have been able to stick to them...

• Monday- 30 minutes on the elliptical, including 10 30 second sprints and lots of inclines
• Tuesday- Jackie Warner Upper Body workout and 3 mile run at a quick pace (25 minutes...would like it to be quicker next time.)
• Wednesday - Leg Dropsets (took 15 minutes and had my legs shaking) and 3 miles on the elliptical doing hill repeats
• Thursday - 5 miles run with the boys in the jogging stroller
• Friday - Full body weights routine using supersets
• Saturday - 5k race to earn my green beer :-)
• Sunday - REST!!

How do you stay on track with your fitness and diet when life gets in the way?  I especially struggle with sticking to my diet - drinks included.  It's easy to stay on track with breakfast and lunch but I find myself slipping up repeatedly with happy hours, dinners, and late night noshing.  Any tips?  I'd love to hear them! Make it a great day!

Found this...

...and wanted to share.  What a great resource!

http://www.greatist.com/fitness/50-bodyweight-exercises-you-can-do-anywhere-030612/

10 X 100

This morning I wanted to cram in a workout and family time so I entertained the boys with the following workout while they ate their breakfast in their high chairs.  Talk about multi-tasking...

• 100 squats
• 100 deadlifts
• 100 lunges (50 with each leg forward)
• 100 sumo squats
• 100 chair step-ups
• 100 high knees
• 100 butt kicks
• 100 jumping jacks
• 100 jump ropes
• 100 heismans

...and 25 squat jumps for good measure! Make it a good day!

Quickie Workout

After a beautiful weekend filled with family time, two great runs (one 10-miler and one 2 1/2 mile recovery), happy hours and delicious food, it was back to the gym today.  I started off my workout with 25 minutes on the elliptical at a challenging resistance with varying inclines.  It got my heart rate up and warmed me up for the upper body workout that was to come.  My arms got a short, sweet workout that wasn't lacking in intensity and saved me plenty of time to continue to hang out with my sister.  My workout looked like this:

• Chest press and bent-over rows superset 
• 4 sets of 20, 15, 12, then 10 with weights increasing on each round
• Chest flyes and flat bench renegades superset
• 4 sets of 15 with moderate weight 
• Hammer curls, overhead presses and triceps kickbacks giant set
• 3 sets of 12 using moderate weight
• Tricep pressdown and bicep curl superset
• 3 sets of 12 with challenging weight on cable machine
• Windshield wipers and W arm extensions
• 2 sets of 12 with moderate weights (be nice to those tender shoulders :-) )
• 3 minutes of various plank exercises resting as needed

I was so glad I had my sister here to watch the boys so I could have 45 minutes to myself to get in a good workout at the gym while not having to give up my morning time with my husband.  A good sweat session truly does the body AND mind good.  I even came home to two sleeping babies.   I'm so spoiled.  Gotta love my sisters...all 3 of them!

Feeling the Burn

Today, I got in one last high-intensity weighlifting workout before my company gets here and I relax a bit and enjoy the weekend. I'm sure I'll get in a run or two this weekend, but there will be no heavy lifting on the docket as my body has earned a couple of days rest in that department. My last two workouts (inspired by workouts at pbfingers.com) looked like this:


Thursday's Upper Body Circuit:

• Bent-over Rows and Biceps Curls Superset-- 3 sets of 15 with heavy weight
• Push-Ups, Upright Rows and Side Shoulder Raises Superset -- 3 sets of 15 with heavy weight
• Chest Press and Front Shoulder Raises Superset -- 3 sets of 15 with moderate weight
• Skull-Crushers and Close-Grip Bench Press Superset -- 3 sets of 15 with moderate weight
• 5 minutes of various plank exercises
• 20 minutes on the elliptical at quick pace with a varying incline

Today's Lower Body Workout:

• Giant set using 15 lb dumbbells and 3 sets of 15 of the following exercises:
• Chair step-ups
• Squats
• Deadlifts
• Lunges
• Superset using a 35-lb kettlebell and 3 sets of 20 of the following exercises:
• Kettlebell swings
• Sumo squats
• Superset using body weight, a stability ball, and 3 sets of 15 of the following exercises:
• Hamstring ball curls
• Plank roll ups
• Stability ball planks
• Superset using body weight and 3 sets of 20 on an exercise mat:
• Side leg lifts
• Mountain climbers
• Plyometric circuit:
• 100 high knees
• 100 butt kicks
• 100 jumping jacks
• 100 jump ropes
• 100 heismans

I had an interesting conversation with a friend last night and we were discussing training approaches and injury risk. I have found that I do not get injured as long as I am training smart, which means listening to my body, giving myself rest days, not training the same body part 2 days in a row, keeping my mileage in check (I don't need to run 5+ miles every day, 2 or 3 easy miles once in a while is a GOOD thing), and I try not to compare myself to others. I'm only competing against myself and I see the biggest improvement when I train smart, which sometimes means more isn't always better. Sometimes the secret to getting stronger is getting some rest to come back rejuvenated to make some gains. Just some food for thought. Treat your body well--balance is KEY! Gotta throw some easy days into the mix. Happy Friday.