Tag: Betty Rocker Challenge

Working Out Week 22 of 2014

May 31, 2014 kimberlee

Another week has come and gone and today is the last day of May. This past week I completed week 4 of the Betty Rocker Spring Challenge and I also did some Exhale Core Fusion dvd’s and a bike ride. Below is the past weeks workout schedule:

Monday 5-26 – Betty Rocker Challenge Wk 4 Day 2 + Foam Roller Stretches – 40 min
Tuesday 5-27 – ECF dvd – Yoga Energy Flow – 3 segments – 30 min
Wednesday 5-28 – Betty Rocker Challenge Wk 4 Day 3 + Foam Roller Stretches – 40 min
Thursday 5-29 – ECF dvd Power Sculpt – 3 segments – 26 min
Friday 5-30 – ECF Cardio dvd Pure Intensity – 3 segments – 30 min
Saturday 5-31 – Bike Ride + Foam Roller Stretches- 30 min

I really enjoyed the Betty Rocker Challenge for this past month. The exercises are all body weight exercises that she sends you each week. There are seven exercises and you do three rounds of the seven exercises. It takes approximately 30 to 35 minutes to complete a full three rounds for me. I thought this final week, week 4, was the most challenging and had a lot of hard exercises compared to the other weeks.

One of my favorite exercises from this week was called Sit Outs – seen in the lower left photo. It was tough but a great core workout. I would challenge myself to see how many I could complete in a minute – I think the most I got up to was 32. Typically I could do 30 in a minute.

I decided to go back to doing some of my workout dvd’s this past week. The previous two weeks I had been using some of my workout books instead of dvd’s. This week I used a few of my Exhale Core Fusion dvd’s. I love these workouts and I think I own all of the dvd’s in this series. They are done in your bare feet and are a combination of yoga and pilates moves. They really transform your body – especially the ab-core area – with some targeted moves that don’t look hard but when you try them you find out they are more challenging than they look. They also have great exercises for toning the arms and legs, too.

Another thing that I really like about the Exhale Core Fusion dvd’s, and I think I mentioned this before in a previous fitness post, is that the workouts are divided into 10 minute segments and you can choose which ones you want to do. There are typically five or six 10 minute segments on each dvd. I usually pick three or sometimes four so I do a 30 or 40 minute workout.

Today I did a little bike riding through the neighborhood on a route I like to take that I mapped out a couple of years ago. It takes me about 20 to 25 minutes to complete the route and then I come home and stretch a little while waiting for my coffee to brew. It was nice to be out early this morning and enjoy a peaceful bike ride. I saw a half a dozen or so people walking and it was nice to say Good Morning as I rode by. I am definitely ready to start incorporating more bike riding in my fitness routine. I have been riding my bike to the store some but have not been doing my regular biking in the mornings like I did last summer. It is time to start that again and enjoy being outside in the fresh morning air.

I have also been able to enjoy making salads with some fresh romaine lettuce from our garden a couple of times this past week. I have not been too successful in the past with growing lettuce but this year it has done pretty good. It is nice to eat something that you have been able to grow yourself.

What was your workout routine for the week? Click on Leave A Reply to let me know about it.

I hope everyone had a great week!

Kimberlee

Categories: Exercise

Tags: Betty Rocker Challenge, exercise, Exhale Core Fusion workouts, fitness, workout routine, workout schedule, workouts

Working Out Week 21 of 2014

May 24, 2014 kimberlee 6 Comments

Another week has come and gone. The past two weeks have gone by really fast for me for some reason. Maybe it is all the end of the year activities with my kids and their schools or something. This week was week 3 and the beginning of week 4 of the Betty Rocker Spring Challenge and I also decided to use another one of my exercise books on the days I was not doing the Betty Rocker workouts.

Monday 5-19 – Betty Rocker week 3 workout + foam roller stretches – 40 minutes
Tuesday 5-20 – CORE book – Global Workout – 30 minutes
Wednesday 5-21 – Betty Rocker week 3 workout + foam roller stretches – 40 minutes
Thursday 5-22 – CORE book – Warrior Workout – 30 minutes
Friday 5-23 – Betty Rocker week 4 workout + foam roller stretches – 40 minutes
Saturday 5-24 – CORE book – Lower Ab workout – 20 minutes

The Betty Rocker workouts were tough body weight workouts this past week. I actually thought week 3 was a little easier than week 2 – but not much. I really liked the Hindu Push Ups – (top left photo) and the Grasshoppers (lower right photo). As you can see I had my personal trainer monitoring my moves once again. He has a new scarf on for the Memorial Day holiday – it is red with baseballs on the fabric. My kids thought he needed a new scarf. He has now learned how to remove it so he is constantly taking it off and we find it various places around the house.

This past week I choose once again to use one of my workout books that I own instead of my dvd’s. The one I used this time was CORE by Hollis Lance Liebman. I got this book last summer from Half Price Books. I used it quite a bit last summer and really like the routines in the book. The photos in the book are all color and each exercise is explained in detail along with photos. The back of the book contains various routines that are anywhere from 8 to 20 exercises per routine. You can see the book and one of the routines in the above photos. All of the exercises concentrate on the core and use either no equipment, an exercise ball, medicine ball and some dumbbells for a few exercises. I also really like how each of the exercises lists the areas of your body it benefits and what areas it is working and it gives you a skill level like beginner, intermediate or advanced. Once again my cat is present to make sure I am doing everything correctly.

I also decided to start drinking my green drinks and smoothies again. The one I made this week and drank a few times for lunch was a recipe I found in my Ninja blender book. I actually changed a few things in the recipe like the ginger and the amount of agave or honey. They said to use fresh ginger and I only had some crystallized and I added less agave than what it called for. I think their recipe said 1 to 2 tablespoons of agave or honey and I only use 1 or 2 teaspoons to cut back on the sugar as the crystallized ginger also has sugar in it.

I did a green smoothie challenge back in January of 2014 where I drank one per day for the whole month. I think I have only made a few since then. I think one of the reasons is it was cold out (winter time) and I don’t care for really cold drinks in the winter. I forgot how great drinking these juices or smoothies can make you feel and look. I will say they are kind of an acquired taste but once you get past the look of it and realize the health benefits it is worth the effort to make it and drink it regularly. I plan to make it a goal to have at least three per week.

Next week I will be finishing up the Betty Rocker Challenge with week 4. I have not decide yet if I will be using another workout book or go back to some yoga dvd’s in between the BR workouts. What workouts are you currently doing? I would love to hear about them – click on Leave a Reply to let me know.

Have a great Memorial Day weekend!

Kimberlee

Categories: Exercise Recipes

Tags: Betty Rocker Challenge, betty rocker spring challenge, CORE book, Core workout, exercise, exercise books, exercising, fitness, green drink, green drink recipe, green smoothie, weekly workouts, working out, workout routine

Working Out Week 20 of 2014

May 18, 2014 kimberlee 9 Comments

Well, I usually try and get my weekly workout post done on Saturday. I am a day late this week because of a pipe fiasco that occurred yesterday at our house. We had a little gardening to do out front of our house and I went out there around noon to help my husband till up the front flower beds and add in some new dirt. I figured this would take a couple of hours and then I would come in and do my blog post. Well, I was out there for about six hours instead. You see – right after I got out there my husband was digging and chopping through some roots from our big Magnolia tree that he thought were causing our front walkway to crack (which they are). In the process of doing this he hit a pipe that goes to our outdoor sprinkler system and it cracked and started shooting water everywhere. So, off goes the water for many hours and lots of digging and trips to Home Depot (like 3 or 4) to fix this problem.

Thankfully my husband is handy and can figure these things out and fix them himself – although I am sure that is not how he planned to spend the entire Saturday afternoon. There was a point in time, around the third trip and at about 4pm, that he said he may have to call someone – but with some more hard work, a few prayers from me and another trip to the Home Depot he got it repaired and our water was back on. I was able to finish the garden work while he dealt with the problem and made multiple trips to the store. We have a rain barrel and I was able to use water from that to get my flowers planted.

So, now on to the workouts I did the past week. I am still doing the Betty Rocker Challenge and it was week 2 and the beginning of week 3 workouts. In addition to those I decided to do a dvd free week and use one of my workout books instead. On the days I was not doing the Betty Rocker exercises I did my Flat Belly Yoga book routine. Below is my schedule for the week:

Monday 5-12 – Betty Rocker challenge wk 2 exercises + foam roller stretches – 40 min
Tuesday 5-13 – Flat Belly Yoga book – 20 min
Wednesday 5-14 – Betty Rocker challenge wk 2 exercises + foam roller stretches – 40 min
Thursday 5-15 – Flat Belly Yoga book – 20 min
Friday 5-16 – Betty Rocker challenge wk 3 exercises + foam roller stretches – 40 min
Saturday 5-17 – Flat Belly Yoga book – 15 min

I really like the Flat Belly Yoga book by Kimberly Fowler. So does my cat as you can see. He is all dressed up in a scarf my sons have decided he needs to wear – I don’t think he really likes it that well but puts up with it. This book is an excellent book, in my opinion. I got it back in the fall of 2013 and used it for a while then. I decided this week to get it out again. All of the routines concentrate on the core and most of the exercises use light hand weights of 2 or 3 pounds. The exercises are great for strengthening your stomach and back and really lengthen your whole body. All the exercises are explained well and it is an all color photo book with multiple photos of how to do one particular move. I like books like that.

Betty Rocker week 2 and the beginning of week 3 challenge was a “challenge” for sure! There is this skinny sumo move in week 2 that I could hardly get through all of those for one minute. One minute of doing one particular move does not sound hard until you actually try it. I really like how this challenge is all body weight exercises and requires no equipment. I like using my weights, step and other things but sometimes it is a nice change of pace to not have a lot of things to lug out and put away.

I also tried a new healthy muffin recipe this week from Pink Recipe Box. The recipe is for Healthy Double Chocolate Oat Bran Muffins. They were really good – made with oat bran and some whole wheat flour so they have lots of fiber. My oldest son liked them, too. I also took my friend Karen one when we met on Friday at Starbucks to knit and have coffee and she liked them as well. I will probably make them again this week. You can click on the highlighted link and it will take you to the recipe for them.

I hope everyone had a great week and you are able to get in some fitness time for yourself. I would love to hear about your workouts – you can click on Leave a Reply and tell me about them.

Have a great day!

Kimberlee

Categories: Baking Exercise

Tags: Betty Rocker Challenge, betty rocker spring challenge, exercise, fitness, healthy muffins, muffins, working out, workouts, yoga, yoga book, yoga cat

Working Out Week 19 of 2014

May 10, 2014 kimberlee 11 Comments

The past week my workouts were a little different than previous weeks. I mentioned last week that I decided to do the Betty Rocker Make Fat Cry Spring Challenge so instead of doing all workout dvd’s like I normally do I did three days of the Betty Rocker workouts. The challenge is running from a Thursday to Thursday so I did two days of week 1 workouts and one day of week 2. My schedule for the past week is below:

Sunday 5-4 – rode bike around neighborhood – 15-20 minutes
Monday 5-5 – Betty Rocker wk 1 workout + foam roller stretch – 35 to 40 minutes
Tuesday 5-6 – Shiva Rea AM Daily Energy Yoga dvd bonus Radiant Heart sequence – 20 minutes + rode bike to store for groceries approx. 2 miles
Wednesday 5-7 – Betty Rocker wk 1 workout + foam roller stretch – 35 to 40 minutes
Thursday 5-8 – Shiva Rea – More Daily Energy dvd Evolution Heart Flow sequence – 20 minutes
Friday 5-9 – Betty Rocker wk 2 workout + slide and glide disc stretch – 35 minutes
Saturday 5-10 – Shiva Rea Creative Core Abs – water and spontaneous core sequence – 18 minutes

Last Saturday I was getting my sons’ bikes out and putting air in their tires and decided it was time to start riding my bike again and use it to go to the store to get some groceries. I usually try and do this every Spring and Summer as it is a great way to get some exercise and be outdoors and it saves on gas, too. There is a Walmart that I ride to that is about a mile away and they have a bike rack for me to lock my bike up. I really enjoy riding to the store. It also kind of limits what you can buy so you only buy what is necessary and not all those extra things that tend to catch your eye. I can usually get three bags of groceries – large bags that I made myself from fabric – on my bike.

The Betty Rocker Challenge was a pretty good “challenge” this past week. All the exercises are body weight exercises. There are 7 exercises that you do for one minute each and repeat them three times. I definitely worked up a sweat every day I did those exercises. My faithful workout friend was usually present to supervise me (my cat).

Week 2 of the Betty Rocker challenge began for me on Friday. The exercises were similar to last weeks but with some add ons to make them more challenging. They were definitely more challenging for me. Especially this one called skinny sumos – by the third round on those I had to slow down to make it through.

Quote from the Betty Rocker Challenge: “Fit is not a destination – it is a way of life.” I really like this quote as that is how I look at fitness – as part of my daily routine so therefore it is a part of my life.

After a couple of the Betty Rocker workouts I did a foam roller stretch routine. I mentioned a month or two ago that I had gotten one of these. I really like it for lengthening and stretching out the muscles after a workout or even just in the evening while I watch a TV show. The quad stretch in the upper left photo is great and I also really like the upper back roll out in the upper right corner photo. The middle photo is a glute stretch – another good one.

The yoga workouts I chose to do were really good ones. I didn’t realize it until after I did the Thursday session that both the Tuesday and Thursday routines were “heart” related sequences. On Tuesday is was the AM Energy Radiant Heart which is actually a bonus on this dvd as it is from the Radiant Heart dvd (one I do not own). Thursday the session from the More Daily Energy dvd was called Evolution Heart Flow. Both of these routines had some great heart opening poses and some good hip openers, too.

I made a new smoothie this past week that I just kind of threw together in my Ninja blender. It was really good in my opinion. It is made with rhubarb and strawberries.

To make this smoothie you will need:

1/2 to 3/4 cup frozen rhubarb
1/2 cup frozen or fresh strawberries
1/2 cup plain greek yogurt
1 cup vanilla soy milk
1Tbls Spectrum ground flaxseed with mixed berries Omega-3 & Super Fruits

Place all the above ingredients in a high speed blender and blend 1 or 2 minutes until smooth. If you use both frozen rhubarb and strawberries this is almost like a strawberry milkshake.

I really like how this smoothie tasted. It wasn’t too sweet and I love having the rhubarb in it. I guess if you wanted to sweeten it a little more you could add a spoonful of honey or agave to it.

Rhubarb is really good for your digestive system as well as keeping your skin from premature aging. It is a good source of vitamin C, calcium, magnesium, potassium, oxalic acid and fiber. I have been buying it frozen from Kroger. It is one of the few places I was able to find it last summer.

Let me know how your workouts are going by clicking on Leave a Reply.

I hope everyone has a great weekend and a Happy Mother’s Day!

Kimberlee

Categories: Exercise Recipes

Tags: Betty Rocker Challenge, bicycle, fitness, make fat cry challenge, rhubarb, Smoothie Recipe, smoothie with rhubarb and strawberries, working out, workouts, yoga

Working Out Week 18 of 2014

May 3, 2014 kimberlee 5 Comments

Another week has flown by it seems. I can not believe it is Saturday already. This past week I had my workouts scheduled to follow a rotation of Cathe Friedrich workouts and Shiva Rea yoga workouts. I had not done much yoga the past few weeks other than on Saturdays and I realized I was missing that so I added more in.

The schedule for my past week was as follows:

Monday – Cathe – High Reps – entire workout 64 minutes
Tuesday – Shiva Rea Daily Energy – Chakra Namaskar and Core session – 27 minutes
Wednesday – Cathe – To the Max – 54 minutes
Thursday – ~~Shiva Rea More Daily Energy – Evolution Heart Flow~~ Betty Rocker Spring Challenge week 1 of workouts + foam roller workout – 35 minutes
Friday – Cathe – Butts and Guts timesaver standing and stability ball abs – 49 minutes
Saturday – Shiva Rea AM Energy – Vira Flow – 20 minutes

I really enjoyed adding in more yoga to the week of workouts. When I was doing P90X3 you did yoga or pilates at least once a week or more and I definitely missed that.

I think my cat missed yoga too – here he is supervising my session in a couple of the photos.

To The Max was a new Cathe workout for me. I believe it was actually released in 2012 but I just bought it a few weeks ago and had not tried it out yet. It is a very fast paced workout that uses the step at 2 and 3 risers high for much of the workout. The end of the workout finishes with some creative core and upper body moves that I really liked – so did my other cat as she decided to sit and watch for that part with her fish toy by her side.

As you will notice in my listed schedule there is a strike through for Thursday. That is because I decided in the middle of the week to do the Betty Rocker Spring fitness challenge after receiving an invite to join via email. I had done a previous challenge of hers that was the whole month of October and saw good results with getting much more lean so I have decided to do another one for the month of May. Therefore. starting next week I will probably alternate the Betty Rocker workout, which consists of 7 exercises that you do for one minute each for 3 rounds, and my Shiva Rea yoga dvd’s.

So far I have only completed one session of the Betty Rocker exercises since it will run Thursday to Thursday. Also, after doing the workout on Thursday I started to get a tight and stressed feeling in my upper back between my shoulder blades. I am not sure if it was because of the push ups in the workout or maybe my form wasn’t right. I did stretch really good afterwards by doing my foam roller routine. I woke up Friday morning and wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to do my scheduled workout but I took some Advil and pushed play and once I got moving the pain subsided drastically. Thankfully it stayed away the rest of the day. I did wake up again today with a little bit of the same feeling but once I did my yoga I felt fine.

Part of my workout on Friday consisted of a stability ball ab routine that I really like – it is a bonus workout on the Butts and Guts dvd. I also got to use my crochet yoga strap in part of the routine.

Well, I hope everyone has had a great week and you were able to get in some workout time for yourself. The weather is getting nicer here so I am able to be outside more and garden some and do some walking in the evenings with my husband.

Have a great weekend!

Kimberlee

Categories: Exercise

Tags: Betty Rocker Challenge, fitness, working out, workout routine, workout schedule, yoga

New Fitness Challenge Starts Tomorrow

September 30, 2013 kimberlee

Hey everyone! I just wanted to share with you the latest fitness challenge I have decided to do after my friend Joanna told me about it. It is called Rocktober! It is the Betty Rocker Fitness Challenge for the whole month of October. Here is the link if you are interested and want to sign up. Sign up needs to be done by today though. http://thebettyrocker.com/sign-up-now-for-the-free-30-day-rocktober-fitness-challenge/ This is a free challenge and if you join you will be invited to the facebook challenge group as well. I really like being in the facebook challenge groups because it gives you support from others from all over the world who are doing the same workouts as you.

I just signed up on Saturday so if you do it now you will be all set. I will be finishing my last week of Focus T25 with my challenge group this week along with starting the Betty Rocker challenge tomorrow. Lots of working out to do this week! I will plan to post at the end of the week my Focus T25 and also more about this current challenge.

I hope everyone is having a great evening!

Categories: Exercise Misc.

Tags: Betty Rocker Challenge, exercise, fitness, Rocktober Challenge, the Betty Rocker, workouts