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