What's On Your Fitness Bucket List?

Yesterday morning as I was signing out of my email an headline popped up that made me think. It was titled, "Fitness Bucket List for Women". Because I am interested in all things exercise, I immediately clicked on it.

As I read the subtitle, "Four fitness goals every woman should try to reach". Hmmm... I thought,  not a bad idea to have a fitness bucket list. So what does this article have to say? I kept reading and found well, four things every woman should be able to cross off her list. Then followed by the reason for why each item is so important and how to do each one.

What are those four things?

1) Hold a plank pose for 60 seconds
2) Run a half-marathon
3) Pull off 10 push-ups
4) Hold the tree pose for 60 seconds 

Not a bad start for a fitness bucket list.

What do you think, should each person have a fitness bucket list? Why or why not?

If you had a list, what would be on it?

Color Outside the Lines

This morning as I was taking my small group of ladies through a workout, I decided to do something totally abnormal for me. I decided to be spontaneous. Sometimes I think we get caught up in life and just go through the motions of getting things done. A little Robot like, don’t ya think? Personally I think that makes life, well, a little bit boring. We need to kick back and do something out of the ordinary. In my case, all it took to brighten up the day was putting on a little music and dancing to the “Cotton Eye Joe” and the group loved it! I just want to encourage you today to do something completely out of the blue and have your own “Cotton Eye Joe” moment, embrace spontaneity!

Everyone Has Six Pack Abs

I promised some time ago that I would be blogging on more fitness related topics, here is my first attempt.

 

Everyone has six pack abs. Yes, you read that right. Here is where I am going to go all anatomy on you and explain why. See the picture below? It is a picture of the muscles of your torso. Find the label that says "rectus abdominus" and note there are 3 different segments on the right that look about the same size. That is half of your six pack muscle. The left has 3 more segments which completes the "6 Pack". 

Now the question is, why can't you see some people's "6 Pack"? Well, the answer is very simple, there is a layer of fat that covers it. So there you have it, when you see someone at the beach this summer who has clearly defined abs you know why, they don't have fat there!

A New Addition On the Way

Okay okay, so I don't have a little one on the way but I had to get you here somehow.

After careful consideration, I've decided to add yet another topic to my blog.

Fitness.

Fitness is something I am passionate about and that's what this blog is all about. Writing about what I love. It's what I do.

So, bear with me as I attempt this new baby. Feel free to suggest things as I go along. Or not, it's up to you :)

12 Days of Christmas

I've been slacking some on writing, so here is a quickie update. We are still in the market for a house but are holding off looking any more until after Christmas. There were some hidden things we found out about a house we were going to put an offer on, so we decided not to go for that particular house. All is well with the family, just counting down the days to Christmas...

Speaking of Christmas, here is a workout I created for my Strength Training Class. It only takes about 30 minutes, so its great for those a little short on time. Or do the workout twice through to really burn some calories!

12 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS WORKOUT

1) Plyometric Squat (Jump squat)

2) Side Lunges (each leg)

         

3) Traveling Pushups

4) V-Ups

5) Mountain Climbers

6) Walking Lunges (per leg)

7) Bicep Curls to Shoulder Press (alternating arms, 7 reps for each arm)

8) Plank Bend to Leg Raise (while holding plank, bend one knee into chest then extend leg out and up, alternate between legs count each leg 8 times)

9) Jumping Jacks

10) Tricep Dips

11) Single Arm Rows (11 rows for each arm)

12) 1 Minute Plank

                                       

Do the workout just like you would sing the song, except substitute exercises. 

Here's an example:

On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me a partridge in a pear tree (do one jump squat).

On the second day of Christmas my true love gave to me, two turtle doves and a partridge in a pear tree (do 2 side lunges and 1 jump squat).

On the third day of Christmas my true love gave to me, three French hens, two turtle doves and a partridge in a pear tree (do 3 traveling pushups, 2 side lunges and 1 jump squat)

Continue this through all 12 rounds of the workout.

Enjoy!

Great Running Freebies!

I love to read about running and one of my favorite websites just posted a bunch of free pdfs with some great training pointers. So go check it out!



http://www.runnersworld.com/cas/pdf/0,,s6-238-591-0-0,00.html

It's Official: I'm a Dirty Dasher!

  

This last Saturday morning was intense. The Dirty Dash 10k took me almost 2 hours to complete, but it was so worth it! With 16 obstacles to overcome, along with 6.2 miles of hard core hill/trail running, The Dirty Dash was by far the hardest run I've ever completed! Its something that I want to try again, but with a lot more training under my belt. I'd totally recommend it for someone up for a challenge!

Tire Obstacle



Final Obstacle: MUD PIT!!



Here I go, almost done!



Dirty Dashers

Posing in all my muddied state! :)

Shower Time!

Diet. That Nasty Four Letter Word

First of all, let me clarify something. Diet is a bad word. I've always believed the word carried a negative connotation on its back. It started out being perfectly innocent and then slowly morphed into something not so nice.You say the word diet to me and I will most likely cringe. If somebody tells me they are on a diet and asks my opinion about it, I usually ask them, "Is it something you can do for the rest of your life? If it's not, you are wasting your time". Now, I understand cutting back on certain food items that may be a adding a few pounds, I get that. What I don't get is somebody totally revamping what they are eating only for a designated time just so they can lose the unwanted poundage. What is going to happen when you start eating the same way you did before? Yep, all the weight comes right back on. It all comes down to this: if you don't change those habits that are making you fat, your fat is going to stick to you like glue. Yuck! This is the personal trainer starting to coming out of me, all it takes is one step at a time. So start setting some goals!

13.1

13.1 miles and I ran them all, every single last one of them! It was a perfect day for a race, sunny and warm with a touch of a breeze. The race started at 7:30am, so my day started off early. I finished within a minute of last year's time and felt great about it. It was my friend Heather's first 1/2 and she did great! One thing I was a little bummed about was that we didn't get any pictures of me running in to the finish line, apparently I was just too fast for my husband to catch me. :) Love you hon!

Me right after the race, getting refueled...

My sister, my cousin and I...

Me and my friend Heather...

Bloomsday Weekend 2011

I made it! It seems like Bloomsday weekend just snuck up on me this year. I don't know if it's just because I'm married now and I have a lot more to occupy my time or if it was my lack of training that decided to finally catch up with me. Either way, I was still able to finish Bloomsday in good time and injury free! It actually took me a little longer this year  (3 minutes) compared to last year, but hey I'm just glad I made it. :) Now on to my training for the Coeur d'Alene 1/2 in a few weeks, I can hardly wait! Here is a pic with some fellow runners who also ran the whole way, way to go ladies!

Prevention & Treatment of Running Cramps

Today I had a plan, and my plan was to run at least 2 miles and maybe more if I felt up to it. I got about a .5mile into my run when my calf starting cramping. I thought that if I just kept running that maybe it would go away. Not so. I finished 1 mile before I had to give up, I just couldn't get past the pain. It was very disheartening, so I decided to do a little reading in hopes I could find something that would help. Although I am a firm believer in stretching, I have to admit that I haven't been consistent with it. Here is an article that I found helpful, it talks about cramp prevention and alleviation of cramps:

Avoid Running Cramps With Help From Runner's World