Category: Exercise

Working Out Week 9 of 2014

March 1, 2014 kimberlee 4 Comments

This last week of February has gone by so fast! I can not believe it is now March. This past week I completed week 8 of P90X3 and I also did a few extra workouts after my 30 minutes of P90X3 using one of my Exhale Core Fusion dvd’s. I like those workouts because they are pilates-yoga based and are divided into 10 minute segments. I did one segment each day this week after P90X3. I really like how the Exhale Core Fusion tone your whole body – especially your abs and they give you a great stretch, too.

This week was transition week again for P90X3 so the workouts were as follows:

Monday – Isometrix
Tuesday – Dynamix
Wednesday – Accelerator
Thursday – Pilates X
Friday – Agility X
Saturday – Yoga

Isometrix and the Pilates are probably still my favorites for this week. Below are the photos from those workouts:

The Exhale Core Fusion dvd I used this past week was the Lean and Toned. I did the following sessions: Pretzel & Core – did this twice, Upper Body, Flat-Round Back (very hard ab and thigh workout) and Gluteal toner. I have decided to try and start incorporating my Exhale Core Fusion workouts – since I have all of them – into my daily workout just for a 10 minute session. These workouts really help tone your whole body. Below are photos from the upper body session which is done with light weights. Try doing the push ups with your hands forming a triangle underneath you – it is hard.

This past week was also the start of another fitness challenge for me called Power of Vitality. This challenge is through my husbands work and spouses are allowed to participate. You receive points for your daily workouts and at the end of the challenge, which I forgot to check the specific date on, you get to go shopping with your points and possibly get something really nice depending on how many points you have. I think it is great that his company is encouraging their employees and their families to get fit and lead a healthy life style. The Power of Vitality website also has a lot of great health information and even healthy recipes. I tried one this past week. It was a rice dish made with brown rice, turmeric, coriander and sundried tomatoes. I had it for lunch two different days and it was really good.

Brown Rice with Sundried Tomatoes — Brown Rice with turmeric, coriander and sundried tomatoes

I am also reading the new Tony Horton book The Big Picture – 11 Laws That Will Change Your Life. I am now on Law 5 – I guess that would be chapter 5. So far I really like the book and it has a lot of great advice.

I hope everyone had a great February and are looking forward to an even better March. I am going to continue on with the P90X3 program and also try to do my Exhale Core Fusion dvd’s as a bonus workout.

Have a great day!

Kimberlee

Categories: Books Exercise Health

Tags: books, exercise program, exercising, Exhale Core Fusion, fitness, health, P90X3, reading, working out, workouts

Working Out Week 8 of 2014

February 22, 2014 kimberlee 6 Comments

This is the end of week 8 of 2014 and week 7 of the P90X3 program for me. I am now more than halfway through the 90 days of workouts. It has really gone by pretty fast.

This past week was the same workout schedule as the past 2 weeks. I had to go a little easy at the beginning of this past week since my left knee started bothering me on Sunday. I think I twisted it somehow during the CVX workout last Saturday. Thankfully it feels better today. I did CVX this morning but I did not push quite as hard on some of the pivot and twisting moves while using the weight.

On Tuesday was the Warrior workout. I like this one – not as well as some of the others but it is an awesome total body workout. I had to be careful with some parts of it and the jumping since my knee was really feeling it that day.

Wednesday was Yoga day and I was really looking forward to that workout. I thought it would help my knee feel better and I believe it did. This gave it a break from the high intensity and provided some extra stretching. I love yoga anyhow and this yoga workout has quickly become one of my favorite yoga workouts. I think my cat really likes it too because he was around for most of this session.

I finally got around to embroidering a new workout T-shirt. In some of the workouts Tony mentions that “Aging is for Idiots” I decided I wanted that on a workout shirt. I also wanted to put something on the back so I embroidered “Stay Fit Stay Young” across the back. Below is me wearing the shirt after the MMX workout on Thursday – the dark dots are sweat on the shirt.

The photo below shows a close up of the embroidery:

This week will be week 8 of P90X3. It is the transition week so not quite as intense as the past 3 weeks – it still is not easy but I really enjoy doing Isometrixs (one of my favorites), Dynamix and the Pilates workouts. We will still do Yoga, too.

I will also be starting in a new fitness group this week with my husbands work. It is called the Power of Vitality challenge. I am still in my facebook fitness group, too. I think being in a group really motivates you to exercise and stay accountable.

I hope everyone had a great week of working out. Click on Leave a Reply and let me know what workouts you are currently doing and how they are going.

Have a great weekend!

Kimberlee

Categories: Embroidery Exercise

Tags: embroidered workout shirt, fitness, P90X3 workout, tshirt, working out, workouts

Working Out Week 7 of 2014

February 15, 2014 kimberlee 6 Comments

I have now completed the 6th week of the 13 weeks of P90X3. This week was the same schedule as last week. I think from this 3 week rotation of workouts my favorites are Triometrics and MMX. I still really like CVX as well but since that was a favorite in the first 3 weeks I wanted to pick a couple of new ones for the new round of workouts.

Triometrics is a leg burner for sure. I mentioned on my facebook page the other day that it should be called Killer Legs. This workout is definitely transforming my legs, hips and glutes.

MMX is the kickboxing – mixed martial arts workout that is a lot of fun. Time flies when you are doing this one – it hardly even seems like 30 minutes. This workout is a total body routine. I am looking forward to doing it again in the coming week – week 7.

I have been trying to maintain eating a clean diet while doing this workout. Actually I try and eat clean most of the time. I did splurge a little this week with it being Valentines Day yesterday and I made some homemade chocolate peanut clusters for my family. I ate 2 of them. I feel like it is okay to have a treat a couple of times a week as long as it is in moderation and you limit how much you have. I don’t think it is a good idea to deprive yourself of everything especially if you have been working really hard.

I have also been trying to take in more fiber. I have been eating Bob’s Red Mill 7 grain hot cereal in the mornings. That cereal is pretty good with a little honey and almond milk stirred into it. I have also stirred in some honey and peanut butter with a little milk. It is very satisfying and keeps you full for quite a while. It has 6 grams of fiber and 6 grams of protein per serving. 6 grams of fiber is 23% of your daily fiber.

My motivation quote this week was:

This week I also got Tony Horton’s new book that was just released last week. It is called The Big Picture – 11 Laws That Will Change Your Life.
I have not started reading it yet as I am currently reading three other books and I want to finish one of those first. I have skimmed through it and it looks like an excellent book and I can’t wait to start it. I am hoping to finish a book this weekend so I can start reading Tony’s book. I will update more on the book in my weekly fitness post as I start reading it.

So, how are your workouts going? I would love to hear about them – just click on Leave a Reply and let me know.

Have a great weekend!

Kimberlee

Categories: Exercise

Tags: exercise, fitness, workout routine, workout schedule

Working Out Week 6 of 2014

February 8, 2014 kimberlee 1 Comment

This week was my completion of week 5 of P90X3. The schedule was different from the previous weeks. I would say the intensity has increased with the addition of some of the new dvd’s. The schedule for the past week and the next two weeks are as follows:

Monday – Triometrics
Tuesday – The Warrior
Wednesday – X3 Yoga
Thursday – MMX
Friday – Incinerator
Saturday – CVX
Sunday – Rest or Dynamix

The workouts that were new: Triometrics, MMX and Incinerator. Below are my photos from those workouts:

I really liked Triometrics. It was challenging for sure. Each move progressed into a more intense version of the move. I was definitely feeling this in my legs all over when I was done and the next morning.

MMX is a martial arts – kickboxing type of workout. I really like kickboxing workouts and enjoyed this one a lot. The time flew by because you were so busy punching, kicking and sprawling. A great cardio and total body workout.

Incinerator was not what I thought it was going to be. Based on the name I thought it would be some high intensity cardio workout but it was more of an upper body and core workout. The workout uses dumbbells or resistance bands, a pull up bar, if you have one, or a resistance band attached over a door and you also do lots of variations of push ups. The reps are not that high so I am thinking I need to up my weight next week. This past week I used 8 and 12 pound dumbbells. Next week I am going to try 10 and 15 and see how I do. I may have to use 8 for some of the tricep exercises. This is a great strength training workout and I felt it in the back of my arms and shoulders the next day. Especially since the morning after doing Incinerator I had to do CVX – the cardio workout that uses a dumbbell.

I am also big on motivational quotes and this was mine for the week:

I will update again next week on the workout program. I really like all the positive changes I am seeing from doing P90X3 – not just physically but even mentally. I think a good exercise program and being healthy really does give you a positive mental outlook. It probably does not happen over night but after a month or two you begin to see all the benefits.

Have a great weekend!

Kimberlee

Categories: Exercise Health

Tags: exercise, fitness, health, P90X3, P90X3 workout week 5, workouts

Working Out Week 5 of 2014

February 1, 2014 kimberlee 7 Comments

Five weeks into 2014 and this is my fourth week of completing P90X3. The past week was called a Transition week and the schedule was a little different than the previous three weeks – some new dvd’s replaced a couple of the other ones. The schedule the past week was:

Monday – Isometrix
Tuesday – Dynamix
Wednesday – Accelerator
Thursday – Pilates X
Friday – Agility X
Saturday – X3 Yoga

The workouts were a nice change and I really like Dynamix and the Pilates workouts a lot. Below are my photos from those two sessions:

The Pilates workout was a great challenge for the core. I really felt this one in my abs while doing the actual workout and that evening and the day after I could feel a change in my hips and legs. One of my favorite moves in this workout is the pretzel – shown in the above middle photo. I am familiar with the move as they do this in one of my Exhale Core Fusion dvd’s. This is an awesome move to tone up the legs, glutes and hips. It looks easy but looks can be deceiving with this one.

Results so far with the program are:

Overall feeling really good and healthy (I considered myself healthy when I started but feel even better)
Increased energy and positive mood
Seeing a lot more definition of lean muscle in my arms, shoulders and back; loss of inches in hip and thigh area

The exact amount of inches I have lost so far are 1/2 inch in my waist, 1/2 inch in my upper hip area, 1 inch in my lower hip area, 1/2 in. in each of my upper thighs. My lower thigh and calf have actually increased about 1/4 inch but I think it is the muscles definition because it doesn’t look any bigger to me. My upper arms have stayed about 1/4 inch within my day 1 measurements, too but there again I am noticing a lot more defined lean muscle so I am okay with that.

Above are some motivational words I posted for myself this week. I thought it appropriate since we were in a “transition” week and doing some new things, like the PIlates workout. That workout will take anyone who has never done Pilates way out of their comfort zone and work muscles you didn’t know you had. I also think these words can apply to anything in life really. If things aren’t working it is time to try something else or do something about it.

My challenge group on facebook is a great support group for all of us that are doing the P90X3 program. I think there are about 30+ of us in the group and we are all keeping each other accountable and motivated on a daily basis. I think being in a dedicated group makes all the difference in the world of completing a 90 day program like this and I am so glad to be a part of it.

Next week we are on to our new group of exercises called Block 2 – Days 29 to 56 of the program. I am looking forward to some of the new dvd’s we will be using – especially MMX – the kickboxing workout. I have not done it yet but I watched a little of it to see what it was about. Another new one is called Incinerator – I have not looked at that one but the name alone kind of scares me.

I hope everyone is having a great weekend!

-Kimberlee

Categories: Exercise Health

Tags: exercise, fitness, P90X3, working out, workout routine, workouts

Working Out Week 4 of 2014

January 25, 2014 kimberlee 8 Comments

The end of this week marks the 4th week of 2014 and the 3rd week of doing the P90X3 challenge with my facebook group. The exercises this week were the same schedule as the past two weeks. You can read my post on Week 1 of P90X3 here to see the complete schedule for weeks 1 – 3.

My favorite workouts from the first three weeks were CVX and Isometrix. I love how CVX uses a light dumbbell throughout most of the 30 minute workout. It is a great combination of cardio and weight training. My shy cat decided to get in one of the photos for this workout – see if you can find her below…

Below in the photo I was getting ready to start CVX – listening to the beginning instructions and here is my cat doing his downdog pose. I thought that was funny.

Isometrix is unlike any type of yoga I have ever done. In this workout you have to hold the poses for about 45 seconds each. The downdog with one hand on your ankle is one of the hardest for me to hold that long as well as standing on one foot with your eyes closed and other foot raised up two or three inches off the floor. It is harder than it sounds – try it. The day I did this workout it was cold that morning and I was freezing when I woke up so I dressed in my fleece pants to keep warm. I may not look very fashionable but I was warm. My black cat decided to participate and get in these photos. He is quite the workout cat.

I have started reading a new book – along with about 2 other books I am reading (I read a lot) called Success Principles. In the book I found this great quote and wanted to share it:

I have written this down and posted it on the wall behind my computer. I think this is a great reminder that there are certain things we can not change in life and that we have no control over but I believe that our health and fitness is something that each and every one of us can choose to control and take responsibility for.

Overall I am still really enjoying P90X3 and my fun challenge group. Next week is called the “Transition” week and the schedule changes some. We are going to be doing some of the same workouts along with two or three new ones. I will update the end of next week on that schedule.

I am not affiliated with this workout program. I am just participating with a group and like to share my workouts and hope to inspire others to exercise.

Have a great weekend!

Kimberlee

Categories: Exercise

Tags: challenge group, exercise, fitness, working out, Workout program

Working Out Week 3 of 2014

January 18, 2014 kimberlee 5 Comments

This week is my second week of my P90X3 challenge with my facebook group. The exercises this week were the same schedule as last week. You can see this post on Working Out Week 2 of 2014 for the complete schedule list. The first 3 weeks of the program you do the same schedule. Each day you do a different workout for 30 minutes 6 days a week. There is an option to workout on Sunday or take a rest. I usually take the rest day.

I think CVX is still my favorite in this rotation so far. I love how you use a dumbbell throughout most of the workout. I use 5 pounds which sounds like nothing but when you are doing cardio with that in your hands it feels heavy. There is also an option to not use any weight or just use a basketball. Tony says you could even grab a cat but I don’t think my cat would like that. Although my one cat was present for most of this workout – he sat on the ottoman supervising my form. Tony is funny throughout this whole workout with his comments. I enjoy having a laugh or two while I am working out.

This week I switched Agility X and the Isometix workout days. I did the Agility X on Friday and the Isometrix on Saturday. I had a busy day Saturday with my one son and his schedule for Orchestra so I wanted a workout on Saturday morning that was not a hard cardio session where I get drenched in sweat. Isometrix is not easy by any means but I do not tend to work up a huge sweat doing that one.

Last week I did not care for Agility X but I liked it a little better this week. You have to have tape on the floor to mark where you stand, step, jump, etc. It is a hard workout in my opinion and takes some coordination with the footwork. You also really get the heart rate up and sweat a lot.

My other favorite workout in this three week rotation is called Isometrix. It is a yoga based workout where you hold each pose for 45 seconds. The poses are challenging and to hold them for almost a minute is very hard. It is a great total body workout that you can really feel in your core.

I was able to do one of the moves in Isometrix better this week called bound downdog split. You have one hand on the mat and the other on your opposite ankle and the leg that doesn’t have a hand on the ankle in the air. Last week my hand on the mat would sweat and slip a lot so this week I remembered that I had some yoga gloves that have grips on them. The gloves were a gift last year from my husband – they go with my yoga grip socks that I use in the winter. I had not ever used the gloves and decided today was the day to try them out. They worked really well for the bound downdog split and for doing the crane pose.

I hope everyone is having a great weekend and keeping up with their workouts. I will post again next weekend on the results of week 3 of P90X3. Also, just to let you know I am not affiliated with the workout I am just posting my thoughts and sharing my own opinions.

Kimberlee

Categories: Exercise

Tags: exercise, fitness, fitness routine, health, working out

Working Out Week 2 of 2014

January 11, 2014 kimberlee 2 Comments

This week was the start of my new workout challenge with my facebook challenge group for P90X3. This a 90 day challenge using the P90X3 program from Beachbody.

I chose to do the Lean schedule for the program. There are 4 different programs to choose from using the various 16 dvd’s that come in the set. The programs are: Classic, Lean, Mass, or Doubles. Most of the people in my group are doing the Classic or the Lean schedule.

For the Lean schedule the workouts you will use for the first three weeks are:

Day 1 – Accelerator
Day 2 – The Warrior
Day 3 – X3 Yoga
Day 4 – CVX
Day 5 – Isometrix
Day 6 – Agility X
Day 7 – Rest or Dynamix

All of the workouts are 30 minutes long. A very reasonable time that is easy to fit into your schedule. The workouts are not easy, by any means. I am glad they are challenging – that is why I like to do a variety and try new workouts – to give me more challenges.

I think that out of this weeks workouts I have two favorites – CVX and Isometrix. CVX is a cardio workout done with a dumbbell – I used 5 pounds. Isometrix is a yoga type of workout done in bare feet where you hold each pose for 45 seconds. That may sound easy but trust me it is very challenging. Especially one of the poses on one leg with your eyes closed. Try that for 45 seconds – you are sure to wobble. There is also a one hand downdog called “bound downward dog” I believe and it is hard – my hand sweats and that causes me to slip on the mat.

Below are some of the other photos from the workouts. I didn’t take any from the CVX day as it was faster paced and I wanted to learn the moves.

Accelerator is a fun cardio workout that had me sweating a lot. The donkey kick thing at the end was pretty hard.

Warrior was the workout for day 2 and another good heart pumping cardio workout.

Day 6 was Agility X and probably my least favorite. This is a pure cardio workout that has you sweating a lot. You have to have tape on the floor to mark where you jump, step, etc. My cat really liked the tape on the floor. He was either scratching at it or sitting in between the two pieces of it as seen in the one photo where I am doing the cooldown at the end. This workout will be a challenge for me to learn the moves and get better at it.

I am thinking I am going to take the rest day tomorrow instead of doing the optional Dynamix. I have already done the Dynamix workout about a week or two ago and I know I like it but Sunday is usually a rest day for me.

This information is my own opinion. I am not affiliated with this program I am just sharing my weekly workout and my experience with it.

Have a great weekend!

Kimberlee

Categories: Exercise Health

Tags: fitness, fitness routine, weekly workout, workout schedule, workouts, yoga

Working Out Week 1 of 2014

January 4, 2014 kimberlee 2 Comments

Happy New Year! It is now the end of the first week of 2014. My workouts this past week were a combination of my new P90X3 dvd’s and my Cathe Friedrich dvd’s. Workout’s this week were as follows:

Monday 12-30-2013 – P90X3 Isometrix – 30 minutes
Tuesday 12-31-2013 – Cathe X10, premix 37, cardio blast & hi-lo – 37 minutes
Wednesday 1-1-2014 – P90X3 Dynamix – 30 minutes
Thursday 1-2-2014 – Cathe Flex Train, warm up, legs & shoulders, legs & biceps, disc lunges, core-abs, stretch – 40 minutes
Friday 1-3-2014 – P90X3 Pilates – 30 minutes
Saturday 1-4-2014 – Cathe Great Glutes, warm up, bonus chair-band, floorwork, stretch – 35 minutes

This is my 3rd week of alternating the cardio and the yoga or pilates and I really like this routine. Starting next week I will be doing the P90X3 for the next 90 days. I am starting the workout plan with my workout group on facebook. The past couple of weeks since receiving the workouts I have just been trying a few of them out. I didn’t want to start all of them yet since I will be using them for the next 3 months.

Below are some photos of the P90X3 workouts I did this past week.

The Isometrix workout looks easy when you just watch it but it is a challenge. You have to hold each pose for 45 seconds. That may sound easy until you try it. It was very different from any workout I have done or the type of yoga I normally do. I really liked it. As you can see from the photos my cat liked it too. He is my little workout buddy every day.

The Dynamix workout was another great dvd in the P90X3 series. There were some exercises that were very different to me and some that I have done before, too. This was another excellent workout, in my opinion, that I will really enjoy doing in my P90X3 rotation. I told my husband he should do it to help him improve his flexibility for his golf game – not sure if he is going to try it or not though.

I have also decided to do a green smoothie challenge the month of January with my friend Joanna’s green smoothie group on facebook. Here is the link if you are interested in joining: https://www.facebook.com/groups/117834925060273/ The challenge is to have one green smoothie a day for the month. I started doing this on the 31st of December and so far I have had one per day. This is a really great way to get back into a healthier diet for the new year. There are recipes on the page and I have tried a couple of them as well as my own.

The smoothie I made in the photo above was my own concoction. I am calling it Green Citrus Smoothie since it has a citrus flavor. Here is what was in it:

half a grapefruit, peeled & seeded
juice of one lemon
half a banana
2 dates soaked in 1/4 c. of water for 10 minutes (also add water to smoothie)
2 pineapple ice cubes – made from pineapple juice
1/4 c. plain greek yogurt
handful of spinach
1/4 to 1/2 c. crushed ice
1 scoop vanilla whey protein powder

Blend all the ingredients until smooth in a high speed blender.

This smoothie was pretty good but next time I think I will leave out the banana. I was trying to add them in my smoothies this week thinking I would like them but I just do not care for bananas. I will have to stick with other ingredients I like.

I am looking forward to the start of next week and my next fitness challenge of P90X3. Changing my workout routine and program is always a great way to keep me motivated and on track with my fitness goals. What workouts are you planning to do this year? Let me know by clicking on Leave a Reply. I would love to hear about them.

Categories: Exercise Health

Tags: exercise dvd's, exercise plan, fitness routine, green smoothie, Smoothie Recipe, Workout program, workout schedule

Workouts Week 52 of 2013

December 28, 2013 kimberlee

This is the final full week of 2013. My workouts this year have been a variety of different activities and dvd’s. I think that is what keeps me motivated to wake up and workout every day, well – at least five days a week. Variety is the key. I also think finding an awesome and friendly facebook fitness group has helped. I really enjoy my little group on there. Sometimes I just log onto facebook to see my group and their posts and skip my personal page of posts. There are some really positive and dedicated fitness people in our Team Krazy Fit.

This past week I worked out most every day except Christmas day and on Sunday. I usually take Sunday as a rest day. My schedule this past week was:

Monday 12-23 – P90X3 Pilates – 30 minutes
Tuesday 12-24 – Cathe Party Rockin Step #2, premix 1 – 33 minutes
Wednesday 12-25 – off, rest day
Thursday 12-26 – Cathe X10, Cardio Blast – 25 minutes, also walked 1.5 miles
Friday 12-27 – P90X3 Yoga – 30 minutes
Saturday 12-28 – Exhale Core Fusion, Energy Flow Yoga – Energy Flow & Chi Gong + Hip Opener Stretches – 20 minutes

Last week I got my new P90X3 in the mail. I had to try out a couple of the dvd’s this week. They were awesome – to put it in one word. The Pilates was a challenging 30 minute workout that worked muscles in my glutes I didn’t know existed. My back side was sore for two days afterwards. I love that dvd! The yoga dvd was really great too. Not the same as I am used to with my Shiva Rea dvd’s but it was nice to do a different type of yoga workout.

This past week I also did my Cathe dvd’s mixed in with the P90X3. I can’t wait for my fitness challenge group to start on January 6, 2014 for the P90X3. Right now I am just trying out a few of the workouts, there are 16 of them, before the challenge group starts.

I hope everyone has had a great week and a wonderful Christmas! I am ready to get back into the normal routine of things but that will probably have to wait at least another week until my kids go back to school in 2014.

Have a great weekend and a Happy New Year!

Categories: Exercise

Tags: exercise schedule, fitness, fitness routine, pilates, working out, workout schedule, yoga