Tag: fitness

Working Out Week 31 of 2014

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This week was a shorter workout week for me.  We went on a three day trip down to San Antonio, Texas to see the Alamo and stay in the Riverwalk area and do a few things with the kids before school starts back.  It was a nice trip and a beautiful area but I am also thankful and glad to be back and home and in a routine.

My workouts this week were:

  • Monday – Ride Bike + Yoga – 38 min.
  • Tuesday – off – driving to San Antonio – walking once got there to Alamo and 1 mile to eat dinner
  • Wednesday – a lot of walking around San Antonio
  • Thursday – off – driving back from trip
  • Friday – Jari Love – Ripped and Chiseled workout – 40 min
  • Saturday – Ride Bike + Yoga – 33 min.

The middle of the week I didn’t do any set or scheduled workouts but I did a lot of walking on Tuesday and Wednesday around the Riverwalk in San Antonio.  We stayed right down on the Riverwalk so everything was close by and in walking distance.  The first day there we walked down to The Alamo which was about two or three blocks away and I think we had to walk almost a mile one way to eat dinner that night.  Lots of complaints from the kids on that one but I told them this way we could walk off our dinner on the way back to the hotel.

Alamo Mug trip souvenir

 

Alamo Mug and beads from trip to San Antonio

The photo above is of the mug I got from the Alamo gift shop and the beads I got in the clearance bin for $2.00 a strand at a little shop in the other direction from our hotel.  The shops were called the Shops of LaVillita and they were these cute small little boutiques and art galleries that you don’t see in the mall or just on any street corner.  I thought I would make some knitting stitch markers with the beads or maybe a bracelet.  I really like the mug as it is a nice shape and I like the art work and wording on it – it says Remember the Alamo on the bottom and the year 1836 on the mug and the handle.

Fountain at the Shops at LaVillita in San Antonio

My son and his new hat from LaVillita Shops in San Antonio

The two photos above are of me and my oldest son – this was our little shopping trip to the Shops at LaVillita on Wednesday.  He found this hat in one of the shops and wanted it.  I told him he could get it if he intended to wear it more than twice.  He says he will.  He is driving now so I told him it could be his driving hat.  The other photo is of me in front of this pretty little fountain in front of a quaint cafe.  I wanted to take my sons photo in front of the fountain but getting him to have his picture taken is difficult.  I barely got the one in the hat.  He will probably be mortified when I tell him I put it on my blog…

Riverwalk San Antonio, Texas

 

Riverwalk San Antonio, Texas

 

Riverwalk San Antonio

The above photos are of the Riverwalk area.  It is really neat how all of these hotels, restaurants and shops are on either side of the river.  You can take a river boat tour which takes you on a 30 or 40 minute ride with a guide but we didn’t end up going on that.  My one son observed that it might be costly for the five of us and also the boats don’t go very fast and you could probably walk along side one and hear what the guide says, is what one of my 13 year old son’s told me.  He is kind of right.  I really enjoyed just walking the area and seeing the ducks and other birds and all of the green foliage that borders the sides of the river.  It is pretty open and easy to get around during the day but it gets pretty crowded in the evening with everyone going to eat at the restaurants.

Jari Love Ripped Workout

 

So back to the regular routine of workouts on Friday.  I decided to do an older Jari Love workout that is called Ripped and Chiseled.  It is a weight training workout and it is very high reps.  I had forgotten how hard this one is and the results you feel later on in the day and the next day, too.  The whole dvd is about 60 minutes and I choose to do about 40 minutes of it.  The reps are high but you don’t get too bored with the exercises because she varies the count and does single, 2 -2 count, 3 and 1 count and 4 and 1 count.  My legs, arms and upper back are feeling this today.

I have decided that with my weekly workout post I am going to start including some tips for success in working out on your own, or anywhere really.  These are tips from me, a real person and mother of three sons – I am not nor have I ever been a professional fitness trainer or belonged to a gym.  I just choose to be healthy and workout and do my workouts at home – on my own – making my own schedule.

Fitness Tip for the Week – Commit to exercising starting now!

-Schedule you workouts for at least 4 days per week for 30 minutes or more per day and you will see results – maybe not overnight but within 3 to 4 weeks.

-Start out small in the beginning – just go out for a walk or ride your bike or do some stretches or yoga.  There are lots of free videos on You Tube or you can go to your local library and check out dvd’s or books on working out – that is how I started out years ago – by utilizing what my library had to offer.  There are also lots of great routines and information on workouts on pinterest.

Well, I hope everyone is having a good weekend.  It looks like it is going to be a pretty nice day here today so I may be doing some swimming this afternoon for a little extra workout.

Have a great weekend!

Kimberlee

Categories: Exercise Vacation

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Working Out Week 30 of 2014

The last full week of July has past – week 30 of the year.  It has gotten really hot here in Texas in the past week or two.  My workouts this week are below:

  • Monday – Cathe LIS – Total Body Trisets – Chest, Shoulders and Tri’s – 31 min.
  • Tuesday – Ride Bike + Yoga – 40 min.
  • Wednesday – Cathe LIS – Turbo Barre – 40 min.
  • Thursday – Ride Bike + Yoga – 35 min.
  • Friday – Cathe LIS – Total Body Trisets – Back, Bi’s and Core – 34 min.
  • Saturday – Ride Bike + Yoga – 33 min.

This past week instead of doing cardio dvd’s I decided to do some weights for the upper body and also my Turbo Barre workout on Wednesday.

Cathe Total Body Trisets Upper

The weight training workout I used this week was the same one, from the Cathe Low Impact Series called Total Body Trisets.  The workout is actually a total body workout but I chose to just do the upper body portion of this workout on Monday and again on Friday.  This workout uses some heavier weights like 10 and 15 pound dumbbells and the exercise ball with some of the sets.  The workout consists of 3 exercises per grouping that you repeat two times before moving on to the next set.  It felt good to do some heavier weights this past week.

Cathe Turbo Barre Workout

The cat joined me again on Wednesday for the Turbo Barre workout.  (see him on the chair) This is our third Wednesday in a row of doing this workout.  I did the muscle conditioning portion with the lighter 5 pound dumbbells and then on to the floorwork and then the ab work.  I love the fun and challenging ab moves in this workout.  You can see some of them in the photos above.

On the days I was not using my dvd’s I rode my bike through the neighborhood.  I got bored with my old route so I changed it up a bit this week.  I would then come back home and do my yoga outside on the patio – it feels good to do the yoga after a bike ride.

 

Ball Exchange exercise

The ball exchange move is one of my favorite ab-core exercises and I did plenty of them on Friday with the Total Body Trisets dvd.  This move is where you place the ball between your lower legs, lower them down while lowering your upper body with the arms stretched overhead, then raise both your legs (while holding the ball) and your arms back up and grab the ball with your hands and lower your legs and your hands (now holding the ball) back toward the floor – you don’t actually touch the floor with your legs and arms though.  When you do about 25 or 30 of these for two rounds you really feel it.

What is one of your favorite exercise moves that you did this past week or recently – or maybe a favorite new workout?  Click on Leave a Reply to tell me about it.

Have a great weekend!

Kimberlee

Categories: Exercise

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Working Out Week 29 of 2014

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This past week seemed to go by so fast!  I can not believe we are more than halfway through the month of July!  It has also cooled down here in Texas quite a bit the last couple of days and we got some much needed rain all day on Thursday.  July is normally really hot so it is strange to be in the low 80’s for the high temperature of the day.

This week my workouts were as follows:

  • Sunday – Walk + Swimming – 45 minutes
  • Monday – Cathe Xtrain; All Out Low Impact Hiit, Step & Disc Cardio – 25 minutes
  • Tuesday – Ride Bike + Yoga outdoors on patio – 32 minutes
  • Wednesday – Cathe LIS; Turbo Barre, Upper-Lower Muscle Endurance, Legs with Band, Planks & Abs segments – 50 minutes
  • Thursday – Walking + Yoga – 20 minutes
  • Friday – Cathe Xtrain; Supercuts – 46 minutes
  • Saturday – Ride Bike + Yoga outdoors on patio – 32 minutes

Normally I take Sunday’s off but this past Sunday I decided to go for a late morning walk and in the afternoon I swam some laps in our pool.  It was really hot that day and a great day to go swimming.

I decided to do some Cathe Friedrich Xtrain dvd’s this week.  This dvd series is a couple of years old.  There are some great cardio and weight routines in this series.

All Out Low Impact Hiit workout

Monday I did All Out Low Impact Hiit.  I only did a 25 minute premix of the step and disc cardio that day as I was having some issues with a pesky sinus headache that came on Sunday evening and carried over into Monday.  I was determined not to let it interfere with my workout schedule though.  My cat showed up at the end for the stretch – apparently he wasn’t into working out that day either.

Turbo Barre Workout

Wednesday I did the Low Impact Series from Cathe Friedrich – the Turbo Barre workout again.  I am going to try and keep including this in my schedule once a week as I really like this workout even though its kind of long.  It really seems to lengthen your whole body and strengthen and tone everything.  This week I did a couple of the segments of the workout that I didn’t do last week.  As you see the cat really likes this workout – he began it by standing on the floor behind the chair and jumping up over the back to get to the seat.  Then he continued to jump around and chase his tail for a while.  I guess that was his workout for the day.

CW Yoga For the Core

I am also continuing to enjoy the warmer weather and ride my bike or walk in the mornings.  This past week on Thursday I was going to walk again but it rained – thankfully as we really needed it.  So, I decided to get out an old workout that I bought years ago.  It is the Caribbean Workout Yoga For the Core.  The show used to be on Fit TV and they also put out dvd’s.  I think I got this on sale at Walmart.  The dvd has three 20 minute segments on it.  Both of my cats joined me that day for some yoga.

Supercuts Workout

The other Xtrain workout I did was called Supercuts.  I did the entire dvd which is 46 minutes long.  It is a fun, fast paced and challenging workout that has cardio, weights and lots of core exercises.  There are also several exercise that use the band with handles that are really great for the upper body and the core.

I made more granola this week since my one son ate most of the first batch I made last week.  You can look at my workout post from week 28 to get the link to the granola recipe.

I also read a post last week on another blog I follow called the 100lb Countdown.  The post was on smoothies and it gave me an idea to create this smoothie with carrots, orange juice and a nectarine.

Orange, Carrot, Nectarine Smoothie

I guess this smoothie came out more like a drink but I thought it had an interesting and pleasant taste.  To make this you will need the following ingredients:

  • handful baby carrots
  • 1 nectarine, cut up, pit removed, skin left on
  • 2 spoonfuls plain greek yogurt
  • 1/2 cup orange juice
  • 1/2 cup water – more if needed
  • 1/2 cup crushed ice

Place all of the above ingredients in a high powered blender like a ninja blender and pulse a few times then blend for about 1 to 2 min. on speed 8.  You could also add a little honey if you wanted it a bit sweeter.

I have found that I like nectarines in my smoothies and have used them in a couple of my green smoothies as well.  I recently read in a book I got from the library called The Juicing Diet that nectarines are good for detoxing, heart and bone health and for your skin.

I hope everyone is having a good weekend!

Kimberlee

 

 

Categories: Exercise Health Recipes

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Working Out Week 27 of 2014

Well, this past week I got in a minimal amount of workouts compared to my normal schedule.  The reason being one;  ceilings still being redone the beginning of the week, and two;  I came down with some type of respiratory virus as of last Sunday and was not feeling too great.

The workouts I managed to get in were:

  • Monday – Ride Bike 2 miles to store and yoga in the evening – 30 minutes
  • Tuesday – no workout
  • Wednesday – Ride Bike + yoga-stretching – 30 minutes
  • Thursday – Yoga – 15 minutes
  • Friday – Ride Bike  couldn’t ride bike as planned – felt terrible!
  • Saturday – Yoga – 20 minutes

Monday and Tuesday they were still working on our ceilings but I did feel okay enough on Monday to ride my bike to the store and do a little yoga in the evening in our bedroom (living room was still a mess with plastic).

Wednesday I actually thought I was feeling better – rode my bike in the early morning and did a little yoga-stretch when I got back from that.  Then, I got busy with the task of getting my house back together since they were done with the ceilings.  I washed walls, counters and baseboards of dust.  I then got out the carpet cleaner and cleaned the dining room and living room carpets.  They had covered them but I just wanted everything really clean after all the work they did.  The ceilings look so much better and nice and clean – see photo of before and after below.

Before After ceilings redone in dining room

 

I also had laundry to catch up on since they worked in the laundry room, and I couldn’t do  laundry while they were working, so I did about four loads on Wednesday.  Well, I guess I over did it Wednesday and relapsed into this virus – or it just hadn’t shown it’s full ugly self yet.  I did not feel very good Thursday and even worse on Friday, the 4th of July.  I rested a lot on Friday and feel somewhat better today.  I managed to wake up and felt like doing a little yoga.  Between the house being under construction of sorts and my virus I feel like I have lost a week of time.   Even my husband commented on how disruptive the ceiling remodel had been.  We would like to do the upper level of our house – our bedrooms – but I don’t know if I can go through another week of displacement and mess again.

I will say again though how much better our ceilings look and even my kids commented on how it seems like the ceilings look higher with that popcorn texture gone.  I am enjoying looking up in my living room when I am on the floor working out and seeing the popcorn removed and the brighter, freshly painted ceiling.  Below is the photo of my living room ceiling aka my workout room in the mornings.

Living Room Ceiling after popcorn texture removed

I am hoping to start my week off next week with a workout schedule of alternating cardio one day and yoga the next.  I think if I take it easy today and tomorrow I will feel like myself again and hopefully be over this virus.  So far no one else in my family has gotten it and I hope it stays that way.

I hope everyone is having a great 4th of July weekend!

Kimberlee

Categories: Exercise Health

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Working Out Week 26 of 2014

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This week marks that we are halfway through the year – can you believe it?  I was able to workout for a few days this week but not the entire week like usual due to our ceilings being redone.  Our house was built in the early 1980’s and we have those horrid popcorn ceilings in most of the house.  We decided to hire a company to remove them from the lower level and that meant my workout room, also our living room, would not be able to be used for several days – which looks like now it will be five or six days.

Living Room covered in plastic for popcorn ceiling removal

The photo above is what my workout room aka living room looks like the past few days – the objects in the middle are our furniture covered in two layers of plastic.  This is a really messy process and I will be glad when it is all done.

ceiling scraped from popcorn texture

 

The photo above here shows the ceilings scraped of the popcorn – its hard to get a good photo as the windows are covered in plastic and they have removed all the light bulbs.

I was able to workout the beginning of this week since they started working on Thursday morning.  I did a couple of my Cathe Friedrich dvd’s and rode my bike one day.

  • Monday – Cathe X10 premix X41 – 41 minutes
  • Tuesday – Ride Bike + exercise ball routine for abs – 33 minutes
  • Wednesday – Cathe Lean Legs and Abs premix compound legs+bonus barre+core – 50 minutes

Cathe X10 workout

I love the Cathe X10 workout – tons of variety and lots of sweat with this dvd.  It is a combination of cardio and weights and lots of creative and fun moves.  The cat is supervising my moves, as usual.

Today, Saturday, I am hoping to ride my bike this afternoon or evening if it doesn’t rain.  The ceiling workers were here until about 1pm – they get here early like at 8:30am so I am not able to get up and get in a workout before they come unless I want to get up before 6 and I don’t.  I like to at least have a cup of coffee and breakfast and do my daily scripture reading before the workers get here.  They are also working in our kitchen so I have to be out of there by the time they show up.

It looks like the ceilings will not be finished until Tuesday of next week so I will only  be working out half of next week as well, unless I can do some outdoor activity in the evening.  I will be really glad when we get this project finished and our house back together.

I hope you had a great week and got in some exercise.  Have a good weekend!

Kimberlee

 

Categories: Exercise

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Working Out Week 25 of 2014

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This past week my workouts were a mixture of biking, cardio and yoga.  It seems like every summer I tend to do more outdoor activities like biking and swimming as it gets warmer and I also like to alternate with some yoga.

Schedule this past week:

  • Monday – Ride Bike + exercise ball routine – 33 minutes
  • Tuesday – Yoga – Yoga Life Magazine Core Curriculum routine – 20 minutes
  • Wednesday – Cathe To The Max dvd, Less Impact Premix – 39 minutes
  • Thursday – P90X3 – Isometrix – 30 minutes
  • Friday – Ride Bike + exercise ball routine – 33 minutes
  • Saturday – Yoga Life + Yoga Journal Magazine routines – 25 minutes

Every other day was yoga this past week.  The yoga routines were a mixture of magazine routines and my P90X3 Isometrix dvd, which is one of my favorite dvd’s in the X3 series.  I had not used this dvd in about three months and forgot how challenging it is – you hold each pose for 45 seconds.

P90X3 Isometrix workout

The other yoga routines I did were from a Prevention magazine called Yoga Life that I bought back in 2010 from Sams, I believe.  There are some really good yoga routines in this magazine so I have kept it and pull it out from time to time to use it.  I also used a Yoga Journal magazine this past week that I checked out from the library.  I took my kids there earlier in the week to check out books for their summer reading and I also checked out a couple of Yoga Journal magazines.

My cardio dvd this week was Cathe Friedrich’s To The Max.  I did a 39 minute premix that was a little less impact but still very challenging and gave me a great workout.  This workout uses the step for parts of the workout and it seems my cat loves to hang out on the step when I am not using it as seen in the photo below.  The core with upper body weights session of this workout is tough and one of my favorite parts of this dvd.

To The Max workout

I also rode my bike again a couple of mornings this past week on my neighborhood route.  I really like being out early and riding in the fresh morning air.  After my riding I usually come in and do some light stretching and some core work with my stability ball.

This coming week I will only be working out for a few days of the week and not my usual six days.  We are having some work done to our house and will have people here working for a few days.   There is also a possibility that I will not be able to do my post next week if they are still here finishing the work on Saturday – we’ll see.

I hope everyone had a great week and you are enjoying warmer weather and some outdoor activities and workouts.

Have a great weekend!

Kimberlee

 

Categories: Exercise

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Working Out Week 24 of 2014

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This past week I decided to follow my same workout routine as the previous week doing cardio, biking and yoga.  I did cardio on Monday and Thursday, biking on Tuesday and Friday and yoga on Wednesday and Saturday.  To change things up from the previous week I used a different workout dvd, different magazine routines and my Flat Belly Yoga book – my schedule was as follows:

  • Monday 6-9 – Cathe Cross Fire dvd, Circuit Blast premix – 36 minutes
  • Tuesday 6-10 – Ride Bike + Foam Roller Stretch routine – 30 minutes
  • Wednesday 6-11 – Flat Belly Yoga Book – 20 minutes
  • Thursday 6-12 – Cathe Cross Fire dvd, Fitness Blast/Plyo Tabata/Core premix – 33 minutes
  • Friday 6-13 – Ride Bike + exercise ball abs routine from magazine – 33 minutes
  • Saturday 6-14 – Flat Belly Yoga Book – 15 minutes

I kind of took it a little easier this week and didn’t do any really long workouts.  I am really enjoying getting outside more and riding my bike early in the morning and I also rode my bike to the store on Wednesday for a few groceries, so I got a little extra workout in that day.

Kimberlees Korner

I really like the Cathe Friedrich Cross Fire dvd.  I did a couple of the different premixes on the workout this past week and even though they are only a little over 30 minutes you get a great workout and sweat a lot.  The core workout on this dvd was really good and had some new moves to work your abs.  The speed skater with weights is part of the cardio in this workout and challenging since you are adding 3 pound weights to the move.

Cathe Cross Fire - Speed Skater with weights Kimberlees Korner
Speed Skater with weights – Cathe Cross Fire workout

For my yoga days this past week I chose to go back to using my Flat Belly Yoga Book by Kimberly Fowler.  I really like the exercise routines in this book and how the use of light weights are incorporated into the yoga moves.  The exercises are well explained and all the photos are in color.  When I did the 20 minute session on Wednesday I decided to take it outside again and do my yoga on the back patio.  I am really enjoying being able to workout outside on some days of the week.

Flat Belly Yoga book

This past week was the first week of summer break for my kids.  It was nice to have a less hectic week and not worry about getting kids off to school, packing lunches and picking them up at a set time every afternoon.  My oldest son is working this summer and has a lifeguard job at a local pool so that is keeping him busy.

I hope everyone had a great week and you have some workouts planned for the upcoming week.  I was planning my schedule for next week this morning and will share them again next Saturday.

Have a great day!

Kimberlee

Categories: Exercise

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Working Out Week 23 of 2014

Wow – the first week of June has already gone by.  This past week was also the last week of school for my kids and now they are on their summer vacation.  I am looking forward to having a less hectic schedule with them being out of school for a while.  I also try and do a little more variety in my summer workout schedule, more outdoor activities like biking and swimming.  This past week I began my outdoor workout activities by adding in some biking and outdoor yoga.

  • Monday 6-2 – Amy Bento Ross Body Box dvd Short & Sweaty premix – 50 min
  • Tuesday 6-3 – Ride Bike – 22 min + Exercise-Medicine ball magazine routine – 15 min
  • Wednesday 6-4 – 21 Day Yoga Challenge Magazine routine – Go With the Flow – 20 min
  • Thursday 6-5 – Amy Bento Ross – Body Box dvd  All Cardio premix – 52 min
  • Friday 6-6 – Ride Bike – 22 min + magazine routine – 15 min
  • Saturday 6-7 – 21 Day Yoga Challenge Magazine routine – Sitting Pretty routine – 20 min

This past week I did a routine of cardio, biking + toning exercises, and yoga.  I really liked this schedule as it was a change from my normal dvd routine or doing an exercise book.  I also took it outdoors with the biking and I even did my two days of yoga out on my back patio at 6:45 am.  It was nice and peaceful outside in the early morning and a great way to begin my day.

Outdoor Yoga Kimberlees Korner

I did use one dvd this week.  It is actually a new dvd that I bought about six weeks ago and had not done it yet.  It got pushed aside when I decided to do the Betty Rocker Spring Challenge in May.  The dvd is called Body Box by Amy Bento Ross.  I have a couple of her older kickboxing and weight training dvd’s and thought I would enjoy this one, too.  So far after using it twice this week I am not sure if I like it as well as I like her older Kickbox Xtreme dvd.  It is a good overall cardio workout but some of the routines are kind of hard to keep up with for me.  There are intervals that can be done between kickboxing combos and I really like those intervals – they are body weight type of exercises.  Overall it is a good workout but I think you need to have kickboxing experience to keep up – I do but it is still not easy to get all the combos down the first time.  I guess that is true for a lot of new advanced type of workout dvd’s though.  I usually have to do them a few times to figure out all the moves.

body box workout Kimberlees Korner

I really enjoyed riding my bike a couple of times this past week on my neighborhood route that I do.  I wore my sport watch and set the stopwatch and it takes me about 22 to 23 minutes to do the route – I am not sure how far it is.  I try and ride at least half of it in my hardest gear which is 3 since I have a 3 speed bike.   When I got home from the ride I would do a routine from my binder of fitness routines I have ripped out of magazines I have subscribed to over the last 10 years.  I have them organized in a 3-ring binder and divided with tabs as to the type of workouts.  I have not used them in a while and got a couple of them out this past week.  One of them was with an exercise ball, a medicine ball plus weights and the other was total body toning with 8 and 5 pound weights.

Workout Cat Kimberlees Korner

As you can see my workout buddy was present for the exercise ball routine.  When not exercising he likes to sit on the exercise mat bag as seen in the other photo.

I also made a couple of more salads this week with some green leaf and romaine lettuce I grew in our little garden out back.  This is only the second time I have tried to grow lettuce and the first time at actually being successful at it.  The first time a lot of bugs got to it before we did so we didn’t get very much.  It is really nice to be able to go out back and pick some lettuce for a salad to go with dinner.

Lettuce from my garden Kimberlees Korner

This past week I also preordered the new Cathe Friedrich dvd’s that are to be released in the fall.  The new series is called Ripped with Hiit.  All of the workouts are high intensity interval training and if you preorder you get free shipping, too.  You can read more about it on her site Cathe.com if you are interested.  I have used her workouts for years and they are all great and worth the money.

I hope everyone had a great week!  Let me know what your workout plans are for the week coming up by clicking on Leave a Reply.

Kimberlee

Categories: Exercise Food

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Working Out Week 22 of 2014

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.

Betty Rocker Spring Challenge Week 4 Kimberlees Korner

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.

Power Sculpt from Exhale Core Fusion Kimberlees Korner

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

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Working Out Week 21 of 2014

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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

Betty Rocker Spring Challenge Wk 3 Kimberlees Korner

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.

Core Workout book Kimberlees Korner

Core Book Warrior Workout Kimberlees Korner

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.

Green Juice Kimberlees Korner

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

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