Quick Exercises for the Morning
1. Wake up with Crunches
Here is an exercise that is JUST a little harder than sleeping and it WILL wake you up by doing simple movements:
I do a complete crunch cycle complete with the following:
- Regular Crunch: 10-20 reps - Just lift shoulder blades off the floor
- Reverse Crunch - 10-20 reps - Lift hips off the floor
- Double Crunch - 10-20 reps - Lift BOTH hips / shoulders off the floor simultaneously
- Left Crunches - 10-20 reps - Take right elbow to the left knee
- Right Crunches -10-20 reps - Take left elbow to right knee
- Bicycle Crunches - 10-20 reps - Take right/left elbow to left/right knee by bicycling the legs
- Plank pose - 30-60 seconds
- Stomach stretch - 30 seconds
THIS TAKES about 3-4 minutes
2. Jumping Jacks / Pushups
Do 10 jumping jacks / 10 pushups and repeat the non-stop cycle 5-10 times depending on your fitness level. This takes 3-5 minutes if you push all 10 sets.
3. Replace Pushups with Squats
If you want to add in a leg workout try replacing pushups with squats above.
4. MJDBs - Multi-Joint Dumbbells Exercises
With a set of dumbbells mix in a few exercises into one movement:
- Bicep curl, military press, tricep extensions - do 10-15 reps
- Squats, bicep curl, military press, tricep extension - do 10-15 reps
- Squat thrust, pushup x 5, stand up, bicep curl military press, tricep extension - 5-10 reps
Check this out for related pictures of exercises. If you select one of these to do it only takes about 30 seconds per set. Mix in a few sets of each exercise and you have completed a challenging and effective fullbody workout cycle.
5. CARDIO Option
You can skip all the above and just run, bike, walk, elliptical glide, or row for 15-20 minutes or you can add in a quick burst of cardio for the remaining time you have.
With Spring on its way, the days will get longer and the mornings will become bright as early as 5am. Try to start your day with some sunrise workouts and eventually you will build up with a realistic progression of activity that will last several months. Then as the days get shorter you can slowly start to shorten your workouts in order to recover from a more aggressive cycle of fitness. See the Solstice Running Plan for more details.
They posted the new marathon course for the 2013 Walt Disney World Marathon.
I’m getting excited for my first marathon!
Paying for the 2013 WDW Marathon very soon.
:-)
New Year New You: A 1st to Remember
Are you bringing family? Are you a kid at heart?
The Walt Disney World Marathon
ORLANDO January 9, 2011
Loop, flat, urban, shuttle buses, kid’s run, music, pace teams
Entertainment is Disney’s business, so who better to take your mind off the miles—and keep your travel companions occupied—than Cinderella, Goofy, and the rest of Walt’s gang? The race begins with fireworks and loops through Epcot, Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, and Hollywood Studios, where distractions are nonstop: bands, DJs, parade floats, cheerleaders, people on stilts and on trampolines, plus Disney characters and entertainers. The highlight, though, is running through Cinderella’s Castle in the Magic Kingdom and exiting into a mass of spectators. Among them could be your family, who, with the help of Disney’s spectator guide, can see you multiple times. The event also offers a 5-K and a half-marathon, and a free training plan by Olympian Jeff Galloway. rundisney.com
HEADS UP-> The happiest place on earth isn’t cheap—starting with the $135 marathon entry. You can minimize expenses by staying at non-Disney hotels and asking about multiday, multipark passes.
VETERAN TIP-> The Disney course is flat and can be fast, but run it for fun so you can stop and click pictures with the disposable camera the race provides.
This Week’s Slimkicker Challenges
- No snacks after dinner - basically no eating after 10PM
- Replace soda challenge - going to be pushing all sodas out of my diet this month so this is step one
- 10 wall squats a day - not too hard, but it’s going to help me level up this week
- A salad a day - bringing a salad for lunch every day and eating on as a snack when I don’t have work
- Skip the escalator/elevator - there seems to always be an easier way upstairs but the stairs are so damn close
We’ll see where I land come next week. :-)
I picked this photo to talk about my May goals because I have repeatedly asked the month to be good to me. I make my list of goals, talk about how last month tanked, and then beg this month to be good to me. The problem is that I need to be good to me and the list should be the how. April has come and gone.
May is here, and I will be good to me.
- Drink at least 2 liters of water and take a multivitamin every day.
- Continue not bingeing by snacking healthy and frequently.
- Start and finish “The Best Sports Workout” because strength training was always a lot of fun and I miss the feeling it gave me.
- Bring lunch to work instead of buying crap. It keeps my wallet and my stomach full and healthy.
- Do not skip meals. Breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks… they were created for a reason.
- Complete a 30 minute run at least five times a week, inside or outside. Distance and pace be damned. I just need to be running.
- Stop buying clothes and get rid of clothes I don’t wear/need. Stop buying more makeup. Stop spending money on useless shit!
- Save up money for the Disney Marathon
- Participate and complete 3 Slimkicker challenges each week.
- Log workouts into Fitocracy.
Looking for something to work towards this month…
I’ve been looking for a white dress and then I figured something well-fitted would push me a bit. And I have $42 to spend at American Apparel because they don’t give refunds.
Hello, May!
What Tomorrow Looks Like
I’ve got a long shift tomorrow starting at 7:30 in the morning and running to 4:30 that afternoon. I’ve been really good about bringing my lunch to work and not getting caught up in the pull of the food court. I miss Chick-Fil-A but my salads have been really good.
As soon as I get back home, I’m going to get a good pre-workout meal in my belly and jump into my routine. I’ve got Workout A of my current program and then a 30 minute easy run. Workout A is a 2-3 sets of 8-12 reps of the exercises listed below with no more than a minute rests between each set. I’m excited to get weights in my hands.
- Single-arm kettlebell swing
- T-Stabilization
- Dumbbell pullover
- Single-leg squat
- Side plank
- Dumbbell row
- Single-leg dumbbell straight-leg deadlift
- Read lateral raise
- Side plank with knee tuck
SlimKicker Turns Watching What You Eat into a Game, Complete with Levels and Badges
One of the best things about services like Fitocracy is that it turns exercise and fitness into a social game, where you can level up, share your progress with friends, and earn badges and rewards as you make progress. SlimKicker is a new calorie counting and diet tracking service that does a lot of the same things for your diet and eating habits, and does most of it right. As you work towards your goals, you level up, earn badges for good behavior, and connect with other users who are watching what they eat as well.
SlimKicker is a new service, and while it’s primarily a webapp, there’s also an iPhone app available for those folks who do better counting calories when they have the chance to enter what they eat right after they eat it. You can use the service strictly to keep track of what you eat and how healthful your meals are, but that’s only half the fun. Connect with other members, and participate in challenges like the “soda-free challenge” or the “a salad a day challenge” to turn positive changes in your diet into a game that’s fun to play. As you work towards your goals and complete challenges, you’ll earn badges that visitors to your profile can see. Some of those challenges even win you prizes and giveaways from the site. The iPhone app lets you take all of the features of the webapp on the go with you, so you can check in, track calories, update your challenges, and earn points and badges from your phone.
The service reminds us a bit of previously mentioned Fitocracy and Daily Challenge, “another service we love. If you’re looking for a calorie and wellness tracker that’s actually fun to use, SlimKicker is worth a look. The service and the IOS app are both completely free, and you have nothing to lose (and everything to gain) by giving it a shot.
How to Wear Makeup While Working Out (If You Must)
Track and field star Jessica Ennis, currently in training for the London 2012 Olympics, recently admitted that she always competes in a full face of makeup. While this sounds like a typical trip to Pilates class for a Kardashian, I have to admit that I found it a little surprising for a serious athlete—but then again, I’ve never had millions of people worldwide watch me exert myself on TV. And Ennis’s explanation of her race ritual to The Daily Mail certainly makes sense: “I definitely think if I feel I look good, it makes me feel more confident,” she told the London paper.
Her story also made me wonder exactly what effect makeup could have on your complexion if you are really sweating up a storm. “Wearing makeup while working out can hinder some of the natural ways your skin adjusts to exertion, like sweating and dilating pores,” says New York City dermatologist Erin Gilbert. “This can be a disaster as it often leads to clogged pores and breakouts.” Here, she shares her tips on how to protect your skin while you sweat, if you are like Ennis and feel the need to not go bare-faced.
Be prepared. For oily or acne-prone skin, Gilbert recommends washing your face with an oil-free cleanser before working out to get rid of any bacteria that might be tempted to invade your soon-to-be open pores. If you have sensitive skin that tends to experience a burning sensation from sweat, apply a protective layer of a gentle moisturizer like CeraVe, but always skip heavy moisturizers with thickening agents like dimenthicone that can clog pores.
Be smart. Thick, oily foundations or anything that comes in a solid compacts is the worst choice during exercise because they block sweat and sebum from leaving the skin, which in turn leads to blackheads and acne,” Gilbert explains. Instead, try a water-based foundation or mineral makeup that is less likely to clog pores.
Clean it up. Washing off excess makeup, sweat, and dirt after a workout is essential,” Gilbert says—and the sooner the better. She recommends washing with a mild cleanser like Cetaphil post-workout or throwing a cleansing wipe in your gym bag to get the job done if you’re somewhere without a locker room. Follow with moisturizer but remember, your skin can be more sensitive after exercising, so stick to gentle products.
Only up from here, right?
I think I’ve written enough about my breakup, so this will be the last time I mention it on this blog. Though I have physically moved on, I put some things on hold last week. I stopped working out and fell back into my junk food lifestyle. I’m not torn up about the breakup. I’ve simply turned lazy and complacent for a time.
The last post says it all. I need to get my shit together.
I’m resuming my runs tomorrow - getting back hitting the road or treadmill 5 times a week. I don’t know if it feels like a lot or not yet. They’re short runs for the most part, mostly to get my body ready for fall half-/marathon training. The whole 8 week schedule is based on Hal Higdon’s winter training program. I liked how the runs were kind of all over the place - some easy, some hard, some long, some short. They keep you on your toes. I definitely need to stay on my toes right now.
My friend Joe helped me understand how being single right now let’s me start working on my body for my own benefit. I don’t think I was working out solely for the guys I was dating all of these years. I do think that I worked on my body to make sure that they wouldn’t leave me like they threatened. Seeing that so clearly tonight makes me feel pathetic. My health and fitness should always be for me first and foremost.
Losing my motivation and the driving force to continue Insanity was not a bad thing. I wasn’t having fun and it never felt like I was starting the program without influence from Mike. I can say that I am starting a fun workout I found in my Women’s Health Big Book of Exercises and taking on a little extra stuff to help with my running. I really like the small challenges that show up on my dashboard.
So, right, only up from here. I’m back to running, back to strength training, back to working on me for me. I haven’t been single since sometime in early 2007. While I have been spending some time with a guy recently, I’m glad to be spending more time with me. I’m putting my April goals on the back burner and just going at it.
Today.
(Source: this--too--shall--pass, via imbringinghealthyback)
“Just because the wave breaks doesn’t mean you can’t surf it all the way to shore.”
I haven’t posted anything on here in almost a week. Things have been both great and awful at the same time for me. I broke up with my boyfriend after an act of random and unforgivable douchebaggery. The break-up made me sad I was losing a friend, but I have been on such an adrenaline rush since Monday.
I am happy.
So happy.
It almost doesn’t seem right.
But as my friend Matt instructed I am going to ride this wave all the way to the shore.
I stopped working out. I’ve run once and done two Insanity workouts since Monday (when I got wise). I fell of the horse.
If I hate Mike for anything right now, it’s gotta be throwing me off so much that I stopped working out. He was the one who told me to restart Insanity, that he would be there for me and get me through.
I need to get back on the horse and start running again.
Working on new goals and a new workout regimen tonight and tomorrow.
