Color Me RAD

Have you ever heard that joke - the one about how if you catch me running, you better check and see who is chasing me? Too funny! Well, I am not a big runner, but I am motivated to run when you throw a little colored powder in the mix!

DIY Home Gym Makeover {Part 2}

Last week, I shared the before pictures of our garage - half of which we have been working hard to convert into a home gym! Reveal time has finally come!

DIY Home Gym Makeover {Part 1}

Whoa... yes. I am ashamed to admit -- this is our garage. It is the home of a lot of accumulated junk. Believe it or not... there is also some workout equipment scattered in there. And yes, I do actually walk on the treadmill in all that mess. 
I think our garage is well past due for a MAKEOVER! For a while now I have been wanting to convert half of our garage into a home gym. The time has come!

Goodbye, October - Hello, November

It's that time! 

Time to look back at see how the 'plan' for October went!

Ultimate Fit Workout

  I did NOT want to go today. I almost talked myself out of it, too. "I could just walk the dogs." "I could just get on the treadmill for a bit." "Maybe I could just do a video."   In the end, I made myself go - and I was glad I did. I always hate it, but I feel accomplished afterwards.   Today we did an EMOM workout - every minute on the minute. So you do the set of 3 exercises in 1 minute - whatever time you have leftover is rest. Then you start again at the top of the next minute. After 5 rounds (minutes), we got 30 seconds rest and then moved on to the next set of exercises.   I love workouts that you can take and repeat at home. The only equipment we had today was a kettlebell and set of dumbells. You can also alter any of the exercise sets.   What did you do to get moving today?     

Ultimate Fit Workout

I went back to Ultimate Fit today for the first time in a LONG time. It felt good! I was nervous starting back because I wasn't sure how I'd do - especially since some of the people that go are truly 'ultimately fit.' 
It felt great! this is an easy one you could do at home. You just need 2 dumbbells - I used 8 lbs today. I probably could have done 10. 
Not sure how to do the exercises? Take a look: manmaker dumbbell thruster dumbbell swings dumbbell snatches
Our warm up: 20 seconds - lumping jacks 20 seconds - mountain climbers 20 seconds - squats 20 seconds - hand release push-ups Repeat 3x 5 burpees
Cool down: Ab work on an exercise ball
What are you doing to get active today?

Fitbit Fitness

Think you are really active? I thought I was. Then I got my FitBit. I was moving a lot less than I thought.
This little band has been by my side for a year now - you may see it change colors, but it is there. Tracking my activity. 
I LOVE it! It tracks my steps, active minutes, calories burned, miles traveled, and my sleep. It syncs with MyFitnessPal to keep track of calories in versus calories out.  I once left it in its charger and forgot it on my way to Zumba! I had to remind myself that my body wouldn't know the difference, even though I wouldn't get credit for all those steps!!

Get Your Workout On!

LAZY! <-- That is the word that currently describes my workout routine. 
The summer was easy - I had endless time! I spent my mornings at the Y and then usually still found time to walk the dogs or hop on the treadmill for a bit. I did good at first when work started back, but now I have been a s-l-a-c-k-e-r!
I am a planner. If I have a plan or a schedule, I'll stick to it! I'm good at making it to appointments. So, I have made some appointments for myself - my health depends on it!

Ultimate Fit Workout

Now that I'm working, it will be harder to get to the gym.  Here's a great workout we did in Ultimate Fit at the YMCA that doesn't require any equipment and could easily be done at home!  If you are unable to run, you could always exchange it for jump rope.  

Ultimate Fit Workout

This was our workout at Ultimate Fit yesterday at the Y!  Workout 1 wasn't so fun, but I had a blast doing Workout 2. Do you remember using these in elementary school? 

Well, we had a blast using them in our workout!  One partner would sit on the cart and the other partner would have to push the cart across the gym.  Then we would switch and come back.  One each partner had a turn, we'd do the other exercises in between.

There's not often a lot of laugh at Ultimate Fit, but there was yesterday! :-)  Sometimes the best way to exercise is by having fun! 

Ultimate Fit Workout

I accomplished this today!  It looked overwhelming and definitely wasn't easy, but we made it!  We used 30 lb kettlebells.  You can alternate your sets as needed.  For instance: 2 sets of 15 push-ups and a set of 10, alternating sets of 10 for box jumps, and 2 sets of 15 walking lunges.  There was also an extra challenge added - if you got ahead of your partner or had to stop and put down the weights, you and your partner had to do 5 burpees!  This one took team work.
You can substitute step-ups for box jumps if needed.  If you don't have a box, just do step ups on a kitchen chair.  We did weighted walking lunges using 25 lb plates (holding it overhead with arms locked out).  You can use the kettlebell or just do normal walking lunges.  A farmer's walk is where you hold the weights in both hands and walk that far.  Keep your shoulders back.  If you don't have enough kettlebells to do the farmer walk together, trade off.  
If you've never done kettlebell swings before, you should definitely check it out - there's lots of YouTube videos!  They sell kettlebells at Target & Walmart 
What did you accomplish today?

Ultimate Fit Workout

I went to Ultimate Fit today at the Y with Amy (my friend & workout buddy) - and this was our workout!  It was a partner workout, so we would take turns doing reps.  I would do 10 reps, Amy does 10 etc. until we complete the exercise.  I run 200m and then Amy runs 200m.  So while your partner is working, you are resting.  It was hard but we completed it and feel accomplished! 

Boot Camp!

Here's the workout from boot camp this evening! 

It was a tabata workout - 20 seconds of work, 10 seconds rest for 8 rounds.  This one was a little different because we alternated exercises, so we ended up doing 4 of each.  (Ex: 20 sec sit ups, 10 sec rest, 20 sec planks, 10 sec rest - repeat 4 times.  Rest for 1 minute before moving on to the next set.)  You can find a lot of different tabata timer apps. 

Funny how time works... it feels like the longest 20 seconds of your life and the shortest 10.  I actually like this kind of workout and it is easy to alter to fit your needs.

We did rope slams with the fire hoses - I had never done that before.  Whew!!  That is some hard work, I definitely need some more practice with it.

I always feel accomplished after boot camp! 

RipDeck

Remember the Deck of Card workout that my boot camp leader showed me?  Well... there's an app for that!  It's called RipDeck and is available on itunes for $1.99.  (I downloaded it on my ipod touch - thanks, mom!) 

You can choose one of the existing workouts or make your own.  I chose to make my own with sit-ups, push-ups, squats, jumping jacks, and burpees (as the Jokers).  No equipment required - I don't have a pull-up bar at my house, so I had to omit that.  There are lots of possibilities: dips and step-ups using a kitchen chair, kettlebell swings, mountain climbers, high knees, lunges, dumbbell presses, etc.  Their facebook page also features some different variations.  You can adjust the workout to fit your ability level - just alter the exercise, the amount of cards, or omit suits.  

The app works the same as a literal deck of cards.  You just tap the screen and it flips the card for you.  It took less time between cards because I didn't have to stop and look at a chart to see what I had to do - it just told me. 

It was great at the end to see how long the workout took me.  It even kept track of how much time it took to do each set and each exercise overall.  My workout took about 25 minutes!  I could do this one while I'm waiting on dinner to bake.  No excuses!  Crank up your music and knock out a workout.  

Deck of Cards Workout

Here's a Sunday afternoon workout for you!  (Thanks to Kristal - the leader of boot camp - for providing this workout.)  My husband and I did this workout today - it was definitely not an easy game.

All you need is a deck of cards and a little space. 

Spades = burpees

Clubs = mountain climbers

Hearts = push ups

Diamonds = squats

Face cards = 10 reps.

Ace = 11 reps.

Joker = 10 jumping jacks

Ex: Drawing a 2 of hearts = 2 push ups.  Drawing a jack of spades = 10 burpees.  As soon as you finish one card, turn over the next card or get someone to turn them over for you.  I don't know about you, but when I'm in the middle of a workout, my brain doesn't work - so I suggest writing out a chart or writing it out on dry erase to refer to you as turn over cards. 

You can adapt the workout to fit your needs.  Exchange something for sit-ups or jumping jacks.  Turn up your music and keep going!



Boot Camp!

Here's a glimpse at today's workout at Boot Camp today!  Why yes, it was 32 degrees this morning.  I just keep thinking that I'd rather be uncomfortable for some workouts than uncomfortable forever because I don't feel good about myself.  It felt great to know that I accomplished so much before I would have normally even gotten out of bed.  It even gave me the energy to clean up the house when I got home.  

I'm down 8.8 pounds and it feels great!  Get out and get active.  Find a group workout or a friend to workout with.  Accountability is key! 

Spin It Out

My big Christmas present this year was a spin bike.  I always enjoyed going to spin classes at the Y, so I thought it would be great to have my own bike.  I don't know about you, but after all day at work it's really hard to want to stop at the gym.  So having the bike has been a great way to make sure I get a workout in.

I am always impressed at those who are good at making up their own spin workouts.  However, I am not experienced enough to make my own, so after much searching, I found an app called Cycle Coach.  It makes it more like being in an actual spin class.  There are multiple workouts to choose from based on time and level.  You can also choose to use the music provided or input your own music.  The good thing about spin workouts is that you control your own pace and resistance, so the same workout can be used over and over - just increase your pace and resistance.  I also like it because it gives you an estimate of how many calories you burn in each workout and shows you what's coming up so you are able to pace yourself.  What's your favorite way to burn some calories??