Tag: workout schedule

Fitness for December 2015

The new workout The Hammer and Chisel came out this past month.  I decided on an impulse to order it as some of the people in my facebook fitness group had started it and it sounded like something I would be interested in.  Also, I had been waiting on my new Cathe Friedrich workouts to arrive that I pre-ordered back in the summer and I didn’t have them yet – I guess you could say I was getting impatient to start up some type of new workout.

Hammer and Chisel box

So, I received Hammer and Chisel about 12 days ago and started doing some of the workouts last Monday, the 14th of December.  Right now I am just going on my own schedule and not following the complete 60 days listed in the workout – I plan to start that up in January, after the holidays, with my friend Kathleen’s fitness group on facebook.  Hammer and Chisel dvd's, booklet and containers

The above photo shows what came in my order.  The dvd workouts plus the containers that are for your food so you are eating in the right proportions.  So far I have done almost 2 weeks of the workouts and I am using the containers and the Plan B, according to the booklet, for eating.  I really like the containers and how they teach you how to have portion control with your food.  I always thought I had a good idea of this but the containers keep you really accountable.  I also made up my own worksheet for the eating plan I am on which is another thing that is really keeping me on track – especially this time of year.  I will say that I have fallen off the plan and enjoyed a couple of treats or Christmas cookies here and there, but I write it down so I can see what I am eating and try to do better the next day.  Of course it is harder this time of year when there are a lot of temptations.  In January I plan to stick to the schedule a whole lot better – when holiday treats are gone.

Iso Speed Hammer workout

Iso Speed Hammer was the first workout I tried the day after I received them.  This is one of the shorter workouts in the program.  Just because it is short does not mean it is easy.  You do 10 reps at a slow count of one exercise then 10 reps as fast as you can of the same move – this is a great workout.  Afterwards I did the Hammer Abs – which is also a great 10 min. ab workout – I was sweating a lot after both of them.

Chisel Cardio from Hammer and Chisel

Chisel Cardio is another great and challenging workout that I did a few days ago.  This one worked my whole body – I felt it everywhere afterwards and especially later that night – I knew it was working on getting me into shape in areas I never felt before.  As you can see the cat liked it, too – he is sitting on the arm of the chair watching the TV.  Also, not workout related but I cut my hair as you can see in these photos as compared to the other ones – it was time for a change – just like my workouts needed a change, so did my hair.

I would classify the Hammer and Chisel workout as an intermediate to advanced workout series.  There is a modifier for many of the exercises but you still do the same amount of reps.  The whole series focuses on the use of weights with most of the exercises – some of the weights are heavy.  I am using 15 and 20 pound dumbbells for many of the exercises.

Cathe ICE dvd set

My Cathe workouts also came in the mail about five days ago.  I knew that if I ordered another workout series that one would get released.  I am so excited about her new ICE series, which stands for Intermediate Conditioning Extreme.  So, this week I am using Hammer and Chisel and the ICE series dvd’s.  I am doing Chisel, Hammer then an ICE dvd – on a 6 day a week workout schedule.

What workouts are you currently doing or planning to start for the new year?  I know January is a big month for people to start getting back into shape.  Let me know by leaving a reply.

Have Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

-Kimberlee

 

EOM Fitness for April 2015

This month certainly went by fast!  I cannot believe that tomorrow is the first of May.  As far as my workouts go I kept up with a schedule of working out five days a week, alternating cardio and weight workouts with yoga.

The workouts I used this month were from two different dvd sets I own.  The one is the newer Cathe Friedrich Ripped with Hiit and the other was an older Cathe workout series that I have had for a few years called Low Impact Series.  Both of these sets are great and if you are looking for low impact workouts that give you an excellent workout without too much jumping and impact I would check out her Low Impact Series.  It is a set of nine dvd’s and a couple of them are yoga workouts.cathe dvd's used for April 2015 workouts from KImberlees Korner

On days I did not do a cardio or weight workout I did yoga using my Shiva Rea dvd’s, Exhale Core Fusion, or Yoga Journal magazine sequences.  Did you know that you can get some workout and yoga dvd’s on netflix?  I recently checked out Shiva Rea’s Sun Salutations from netflix and used it for a few of my yoga workouts.  I think I own most of her other ones except that one.  Checking out a dvd from netflix or the library is a good way to try it out and see if you will like it and want to buy it.

I have also been reading some other health and dietary books this past month that I have checked out from the library.  One of them is an older book but still has useful information called the Prescription for Dietary Wellness by Phyllis A. Balch.  I really like the format of this book as well as the useful information on how to eat properly for optimal health.  There are lots of recipes in this book as well, that I have tried and liked.

Some of the other books I have checked out from the library are more about cleansing and dietary plans for your health to overcome health problems and feel great.  To be honest with you the more I read some of these books the more confused I get on how to eat or what to eat.  It seems that if you compare some of these “plans” that are out there they are somewhat conflicting in what they tell you you should or shouldn’t eat and drink for better health.  I am reading them but using my own judgement with things.

I have been making more smoothies lately and not really using my juicer too much this past month.  I think I got burned out on juicing so I am taking a break from that for a little while.  I also notice that smoothies fill me up more.  I have even gotten two of my three sons drinking some healthy smoothies for breakfast at least a few times a week.

maca mango and raspberry smoothie

The above photo is a smoothie I recently made and I thought it was really good – it is kind of thick and super creamy.

Maca Mango Raspberry Smoothie

1/2 c. fresh or frozen raspberries (I used fresh)

3/4 c. frozen mango

1 container raspberry greek yogurt

2 bee pollen capsules opened

1 tsp manuka honey

1 tsp maca powder

1/2 c. vanilla soy milk

-Combine all the above ingredients in a high speed blender and blend 1 to 2 minutes.

For the month of May I will probably start out the month doing some Exhale Core Fusion dvd’s along with my exercise ball book and yoga.  I have decided to get some of my fitness books out and use them this coming month instead of just my dvd’s.  I will also be going to a 4 day workout week schedule since I am now getting outside more to do some gardening and plan to start riding my bike to the store again.

I hope you had a great month!

-Kimberlee

Working Out Week 34 of 2014

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This week I had a really great workout schedule with doing weights again and riding my bike and jumping rope on the non weight days.  I also tried out some new recipes for dinner that were good and made my own almond butter.  It was a very busy week with fitness, cooking, errands, knitting, sewing, daily house upkeep and laundry, and getting my kids things together for back to school this coming Monday.

My workouts this week were:

  • Monday – Jari Love Extremely Ripped Body Rock, Weights & Abs – 35 min.
  • Tuesday – Ride Bike + Jump Rope + Yoga – 35 min.
  • Wednesday – Body Bar + Exercise Ball books + ride my bike to the dentist – 38 min.
  • Thursday – Ride Bike + Jump Rope + Yoga – 33 min.
  • Friday – Jari Love Extremely Ripped 1000 Weights only – 40 min.
  • Saturday – Ride Bike + Jump Rope + Stretch – 30 min

Jari Love Body Rock Workout

My Monday workout was a good mix of heavy, high rep weights and some ab work.  This particular dvd is not one of my favorite ones from Jari Love but I decided to use it as I hadn’t done it in quite a while.  Overall it is a good weight workout.

Ball, Bar, Disc Workout

The middle of the week I did my own mix of the Body Bar and Exercise Ball book workouts and also used my slide discs with some of the bar moves – creating my own exercises with the two together.  I also had a dental appointment that morning and rode my bike the 1 mile my dental office.

Jari Love Ripped 1000 Workout

The Friday workout was back to weights with Jari Love Extremely Ripped 1000.  I really like this workout and how all of the moves are compound moves meaning you work your arms as well as your legs at the same time.  This is a very effective workout.  She also reminds you during the workout how doing compound moves really increases your metabolism and makes your body burn fat even while at rest.

I have continued to ride my bike every other day and do my jumping rope after the bike ride.  I do notice I am able to jump rope a little longer this week than last week – building up my stamina, I guess.  Except for on Thursday – I could only do a couple of minutes of jumping rope as I woke up with a mild sinus headache and let me tell you that you do not want to be jumping rope with a sinus, or any kind, of headache.  It seemed to make it worse!

As I rode my bike this morning I realized that Monday the kids start school.  I knew this of course but it was hitting me at that moment as I rode that I may not be able to keep up with as many bike rides when school starts.  The main factor being that I need to be at home to make sure everyone has gotten up and gets some breakfast, as well as making lunches for the 3 boys.  Also, the biking route I like to take is right near the elementary school in our neighborhood and traffic will be heavy there with carpool drop off.  I might try and ride one day during the week and then just on Saturday’s and see how it goes.

Cookbooks from the library

A week or two ago I checked out a couple of good cookbooks from the library.  I used them in the past week to try out some new recipes and was pleased with the results.  The one above on the left is various different baking mixes, sauce mixes, rice and pasta mixes and other things as well.   The other book on the right is a really nice cookbook with lots of recipes for using fresh ingredients and cooking in minimal time – good for those who are busy or work a long day or just when it is hot out and you don’t want to slave in the kitchen for an hour or two.

I made up several mixes from the baking mix section of the Healthy Mix book.  I had good results with some and just okay with others.  The ones that were okay I had to tweak some to make them better.  Like the brownie mix said to make them with milk – well I have never heard of doing this but tried it anyhow and they were kind of different.  Not terrible but just not like real brownies, either.  I tried it again with oil and a little water like you would normally do and they were much better – the kids loved them and ate them up very fast – I did get to enjoy one which is all I needed anyhow.  Also, the quick bread mix in this book was a little odd as the mix seemed very dry when I blended it.  It only called for an egg or two and no milk or anything to moisten the ingredients.  I took it upon myself to add some milk and it turned out much better and looked like a quick bread mix should look.  My oldest son said maybe the book just assumed you knew to add the milk – I don’t know about that but in my opinion it is missing something.  I tried another mix in there though and that one is fine.  It is hit or miss with this one.  I guess you need to have some cooking experience to figure it out.

Pan Seared Salmon with fresh garlic and rosemary

The Cooking Light Fresh Food Superfast is a great book.  The book has lots of color photos of many of the recipes and everything is pretty quick and easy to make, too.  Just as it implies.  I like the fact that it uses fresh ingredients too and not anything canned or boxed in the recipes, for the most part.  I tried this salmon one night  – photo above – it was pan seared with a small amount of olive oil with fresh sliced garlic and fresh rosemary from my garden.  My kids really like this recipe – that is always a plus.  Another one I tried from the book was the italian sausage calzones.  Those were a hit with the family, too.  I was even able to make my own crust for the calzones using the Healthy Mix book and the healthy baking mix in there.  That made it take a little extra time instead of using a premade pizza dough but it was worth it.

Making Almond Butter with a food processor
Making Homemade Almond Butter

Another thing I made this week was something I have wanted to try for a while – my own almond butter.  I saw a recipe last week on pinterest and decided to try it out.  I followed some of it but had to tweak this one as well to get it how I liked it, or thought it should be.  Of course I did this on a whim with not a ton of time so I improvised and heated the almonds in the microwave for about 2 minutes instead of 15 minutes in the oven and then I processed them for about 2 minutes, scraped the sides down, processed them for about 2 more minutes, decided it looked like almond meal so I added about 1 tsp. of coconut oil and processed again for 1 to 2 minutes.  This was the best almond butter I ever had – really.  I will never be buying it again.  I made this in about 10 minutes or less.  It stores nicely in the refrigerator, too.  If you want the original recipe click on the highlighted link to take you to the blog with the recipe – Flour On My Face.    

Weekly Fitness Tip – Variety

Try different workouts to avoid boredom.  Doing the same activity (like walking or running) can get boring and stale.  Alternate your activity with some other types of workouts like weights or yoga – this also keeps you interested in continuing to workout, in my opinion, and the change does your body good.

Give new exercises or workouts a chance, don’t try something once and decide it is too hard and you just can’t do it.  Sometimes you have to do things a few times to get a feel for them.  Example:  Five or six years ago I started doing some step aerobic workout dvd’s.  I was terrible with them at first and thought I would never be able to keep up with the people on the dvd.  After watching it a time or two and then trying it slowly I got the hang of it – I also tripped or fell off the step a few times but I was determined to keep on – it got easier each time.  I still occasionally step wrong and stumble but not like the early days.  This makes you feel a sense of accomplishment.  

I hope everyone had a great week and you are getting in some exercise.

Kimberlee

 

Working Out Week 32 of 2014

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This past week just flew by.  I am a day late in getting this post in because of my dining room painting project that I worked on yesterday for about 7 hours.  I painted the lower half of the room, from chair rail down to the floor, with two coats of paint.  It took a while and I did have to do some laundry and eat lunch in between the two coats I applied.  I had intended to do my workout post last night but I was too tired.  After cleaning up I did some knitting while watching an hour or two of television with my husband.  I just needed to relax and not worry about anything else the rest of the evening.

The past week I decided to concentrate on using weights and doing high reps and then alternating with my bike riding and yoga workouts.  What a noticeable difference -doing three days of weight training- in muscle definition!  My workouts this week were:

  • Monday – Jari Love Ripped 1000 Weights only workout – 40 min
  • Tuesday – Ride Bike + Yoga – 33 min
  • Wednesday – Amy Bento Slo Mo Strength NRG mix 1 Total Body Challenge – 47 min
  • Thursday – Ride Bike + Yoga – 40 min
  • Friday – Jari Love Ripped to the Core – 40 min
  • Saturday – Ride Bike + Yoga – 30 min

The Jari Love workouts I have had for many years.  I like the results I see from using them.  They are very high reps but she does vary the counts and some of the moves so you don’t get too bored.  These workouts will definitely define your muscles in a short amount of time.  Also, muscle burns fat and increases your metabolism while at rest.  Another good reason to do some weight training.

Jari Love Ripped to the Core workout

The Jari Love Ripped to the Core workout is a lot of compound exercises – meaning you work the legs and the upper body at the same time.  The cat seems to like to be around for most of this workout.  I have certain equipment he loves like the long step and he will sit by my dumbbells that are not being used.

Amy Bento Slo Mo Workout

The weight workout I did in the middle of the week was Amy Bento Slo Mo Strength dvd.  This is also an older dvd that I have had for quite a few years.   This workout is pretty long and I chose to do one of the premixes that are a little shorter.  The moves are all done with a pretty slow count and with heavier weights.  The hammy rocker move in the photo above is a real leg burner.  It is sort of a three part move and two of the three parts are shown in my photos.

Amy Bento Slo Mo Strength workout

Another move in the Slo Mo Strength dvd was for the arms called Bicep Bonfire.  Your biceps are literally hot to the touch when you get done with 3 rounds of this move.  It is also a kind of three part move – it is done with 8 pound dumbbells on the video but I had to go down to 5.  It is really an arm burner.

Biking in the early mornings is still on my weekly rotation every other day.  It is getting hotter each week though in the mornings.  I like to come home and do my yoga outside but it is too hot to do that lately – especially on some of these humid days.  I have had to start doing my yoga inside lately.  I did manage a few minutes outside yesterday morning, though.

Smoothie Book

Last Sunday after church I went to Barnes and Noble because I had a coupon to use.  I found this book on the clearance section about smoothies to boost your immune system and it looked interesting so I bought it.  I have tried a couple of the recipes (with some little adjustments of my own) in the book and they are good.  The one I tried is made with blueberries and grapefruit and the other was with blueberries and mango.  A lot of the recipes use bee pollen in the smoothies but I didn’t have any so I left that out.  I was going to get some but forgot when I went to my local health food and vitamin store the other day.  I will have to add that to my list for the next time I go there.

Below is my weekly fitness tip.  These tips are just some things I feel are helpful to ensure your success with working out and becoming a more healthy person.

Weekly Fitness Tip:  Find a family member or friend to workout with you

-Having someone to workout with keeps you accountable and motivates you to stick with a schedule

-If you don’t have a family member or friend then find an online fitness group on facebook or even a motivating blog or fitness website with helpful advice to keep you focused.  I have belonged to a small fitness group on facebook that is a “closed” group, (meaning anything you post is just in that group and not all over facebook for all your friends to see) for a little over a year and I love that group.  It is only about 150 people and I think only about 25 of us are regularly on there and posting but I feel I have a lot in common with the others on there and we are all positive and motivating for each other even when one of us falls off the workout wagon or off their clean eating.  I also found out that one of the members lives in a city right next to me – others are from all over the US and even Canada.

I hope everyone is having a great weekend – what is left of it.  School starts here in a couple of weeks but I feel like we have already started since my oldest son is in the marching band and they have already been back at it for a week – all day long – and I have been to a band meeting one night and volunteered for the uniform fittings one day last week.

Take care and keep working out!

Kimberlee

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

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

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

 

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

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

Working Out Week 18 of 2014

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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.

Shiva Rea Yoga Daily Energy  Kimberlees Korner

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

To the Max Cathe workout  Kimberlees Korner

To The Max Upper with Core workout  Kimberlees Korner

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.

butts and guts stability ball abs Kimberlees Korner

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