ZWOW #19 - Waterbottle

6 exercises, 10 reps each of 6 exercises = 1 round
Complete 5 rounds for time

1. Waterbottle Clean
2. Pistol Squats (10 each leg)
3. Waterbottle push ups
4. Russian Twists
5. Hip Twists (keep shoulders on mat)
6. Hollow Rock

Video Here
Zuzana's time - 28:15

I didn't do much last week other than lots of active rest (lots of house cleaning) - getting back on it today with this workout

Wheel

Held a wheel for 2 minutes today right after a 1 minute handstand (against the wall) - trying to focus on my exhaling, really trying to release my hips and strengthen my back - trying to release my breath and thus my stress tension and open up (I think?) - that's what I hear them say to do, not sure if I'm doing it right, I'm new to this whole breathing thing (the yoga way atleast) 

Me or the House

So like I said, Corey's gone, so since I'm not trying to play the impressive housewife who's got it all together role for him (you know, like by showering, doing my hair or makeup, all that stuff), I'm just playing Mom and homemaker - we've been having mac n' cheese for dinner for the kids, I've been cleaning up a storm, been eating my healthy way for myself, so diet has been great but I haven't been exercising, just active resting.  Shampooing my carpets at 11:00 at night so they'd be dry before my kids are awake and running around, does that count as active rest?  Did do planks yesterday and some stretching.  But my focus has been on the house this week instead of myself, and I'm doing good and will get back on the wagon pronto, and the house is looking awesome.  

Here's a link for inspiration - this lovely lady has lost 60 lbs so far, great story to remind us to make the most of your life for yourself - set your goals and go get them.  Being healthy is not a diet or exercise program, it's a LIFESTYLE.

Diet Plan of Attack

After watching that video from yesterday, here is my food/diet plan of attack for the next 3 weeks and my exercise plan until Corey get's back from Chile is to focus on yoga and stretching

Beginning Stretching: Do the 4 stretches in the video link to the left everyday for 5 breaths or more
1) downward dog
2) pigeon (each leg)
3) forward bend
4) backward bend

FOOD: going to eat like this vegan video guy says combined with a little Marilu - fruit in the morning at 7, veggies and no chocolate, cheese, meat, or sugar for the rest of the meals during the day. 

7:00 - I've got apples and kiwi for my breakfasts (how simple is that!)
KIDS - cereal/oatmeal/cinnamon, raisins, slices of apple - fiber!!!

10:00 - going to do protein spinach shake at 10:00 (cocoa powder, but no sugar, so not really chocolate, but I'm wondering about the protein powder's effects on the body, shall do more research)
KIDS - spinach protein shakes

1:00 - serving of nuts and raisins if I'm out running errands or salad at home
KIDS - PB&J and fruit & carrots

4:00 - big egg and salsa salad or egg and mustard salad
KIDS - a treat (we gotta try and create a perfect world for these kids!)

6 or 7:00 - healthy version of what I'm feeding the kids or cabbage and chicken soup

Breaking Free

Nicole and I are making our plan of attack, I love that girl, she helps me soo much.
OK!  So, she shared this video with me - 40 minutes long, but good stuff!



Part of our plan comes from the above video at 24:20 - 30:20

Breaking Free:

1. Start with a healthy breakfast (fiber!!!)
   
2. Use foods to hold blood sugar steady (beans, greens, lentils)
   
3. Dieters: Use the Rule of 10 (your ideal weight x 10 = the calories you must eat to keep your metabolism going)
   
4. Break craving cycles (focus on the time of day or of the month that is hard for you, low fat foods help you not have ups and downs of estrogen and cravings)
5. Have regular exercise and rest (you need to exercise or when you go to bed your body won't be tired which will lead you to not sleep well since adult's brains are usually still wired when they go to bed)
   
6. Use social support (You and me, Nicole!  Anyone else out there?)
   
7. Take advantage of other motivators

This week I'm focusing on diet and stretching, and I'm going to revisit parts of Marilu Henner's Total Health Makeover.  Great book, you can get it for 1 cent!  Woo!  Restrictive I guess, but also makes life easier, and since that's what I need right now, I shall find hope in the power of limited choices!  Fruit for breakfast, I got apples and kiwi, I'm set for the whole week, sweet (although I think Mel might have fed most of my pink lady apples to the guinea pigs, that naughty girl... I guess I'll find out in the morning.)

Lots of Active Rest

Saturday was busy, so since I had done such a long run Friday I took it easy with doing lots of yard work.  Sunday is always a day of rest.  Then again yesterday was busy - Corey just left for a trip to Chile and Colombia and I've given myself lots of projects to do while he's gone.  Yesterday we did the boys room and I was moving furniture and moving mattresses and a bunk bed upstairs, so, I counted it as an active rest day again.  So far today I've done a bunch of running around with errands and carrying the baby around the museum and animal farm at Thanksgiving Point.  Forgot that stroller again like I did at Disneyland!  Got to start remembering that again.

So, hopefully I'll get in a real workout today, but we'll see.  It takes me a few days to get in to the "Corey's out of town" routine, so we'll see how it does.  If I don't get in a workout, I'm atleast going to do more yoga stretching cause my shoulders are super tight, I need a massage...

6 Mile Run

My friend Adrienne is training for the Provo Marathon next month.  Today was her last long run as now she's tapering off, but still she had to do 20 miles.  3 hours.  Another friend and I were talking with her that we'd come and keep her company, so I ran 6 miles with her from 6:00 to 7, then Katie ran with her from 7 to 8, then she did the last hour on her own.  I let her take off after 3 miles cause I was slowing her down, plus my stress fracture in my right foot was starting to hurt, which is why I don't run much.  But it was still a great run and a good way to shock my body and jump start my fat burning for the morning.  :)  Going to look like this girl soon just to see what its like ;) 

Pictures of super fit girls like this that I think are awesome my husband doesn't care much for, doesn't think it's attractive.  My kids and I all agreed that this kind of body on a girl is just wrong and unnatural.  Yeah, that look is definitely not for me, (looks like a good workout tho, will write it down and give it a go).  So, if I get too ripped for his liking I guess I'll fatten myself up a little, but still I'd like to get here and see what I think of it.

ZWOW #18 - Chair Workout

Looks like this one wiped Z out, here we go!

5 exercises in a round, do 5 rounds for time

1. Burpee Step Up (and knee up) 5x right leg, then 5x left
2. Round Kick Back Lunge - 15x right leg, 15x left leg
3. Elevated Leg Lift Knee Tuck - 20 reps total alternating leg
4. Tricep Dip with Leg Raise - 30x alternating leg

Try to complete this in less than 30 minutes

Zuzana's score = 28:02
Video here
Ok, going to go kill myself with this workout now ~

Back.  My time was... 28:01
Seriously, it was!  Barely beat Z by one second!  I thought that was fun that I kept up with her.  :)

Here are my round times:
round 1 - 5:07
round 2 - 10:39
round 3 - 16:04
round 4 - 22:02
round 5 - 28:01

Did it in the back yard with 2 different chairs and a baby and a guinea pig on the grass with me.  I love body weight only at home workouts!

Avengers & Mountain Climber Fusion Workout

Did this this morning.  This is a fusion/combination of this Bodyrock Workout here and 500+ mountain climbers.  I didn't do all the Bodyrock exercises cause of lack of equipment, but #1, 2, and 3 that video link above:

Set your gymboss timer for 10/50 or just watch a clock and switch each minute (giving yourself an approx 10 second breather at the top of each minute) - making this a 16 minute workout

1) Push Up / Toe Touch Burpee
- Mountain Climbers
2) Pike Mat Jumps
- Mountain Climbers
3) Plank Jumps (2 jumps) and Bag Drag 


- Mountain Climbers
4) High Knees- Mountain Climbers
5) Push Up / Toe Touch Burpee
- Mountain Climbers
6) Pike Mat Jumps
- Mountain Climbers
7) Plank Jumps (2 jumps) and Bag Drag
- Mountain Climbers
8) Jump Tucks
- Mountain Climbers

PLUS!  Last night I held a wheel for 1:38, that is my world record time, I was quite pleased with myself.  :)

Amazing Yoga Transformation

Awesome and inspirational video showing the benefits of yoga.



That being said, I'm kinda off my yoga kick, not totally but just a little. This video inspired me to stick with it.  I think I'll do yoga at night.  I revisited ZWOW #14 this morning, Killers on my ipod again.  Took me 25:45, which is almost 2 minutes longer than last time.  I took longer breather breaks in between rounds.  Hoping I'm not sore for 5 days this time!

At Home Bodyweight Only Workout

I'm sore right between my shoulder blades from Saturday's ZWOW, feels good to know those muscles got worked.  I hold my stress in my shoulders/neck, and a chiropractor told me I need to strengthen my back, so looks like handstands should be part of my weekly workouts regularly.

This morning I did this workout that I found on Pinterest to the killers' awesome song Human (the beat is perfectly in time with my jumping jacks):

1 round took me 18:27 and that's all I did.  Does "Repeat 1x"  mean to do the whole workout 1 time or 2 times?  Do it one time and then repeat it 1 more time?  I thought it just meant to do it 1x, so guess I messed up there, but 18 minutes is a good workout, plus I did my sprint around the block - 1 lap counterclockwise took me 2:27, then did it again clockwise (makes it slightly downhill at the end of the lap) and that time was 2:23

ZWOW # 17 - Wall Walks

Ok, I can tell this one is gonna be an arm killer -

12 minutes AMRAP

1 round =

• 5 Wall Walks
• 10 Wall Lunge (each leg 1x = 1 rep, so 20x)
• 15 Plank Wall Touch (each arm 1 = 1 rep, so 30x)
• 20 Wall Sit w/march (each leg 1x = 1 rep, so march and count to 40)

Zuzana did 2 rounds plus started the 3rd round up to 14 plank wall touches.  I'm going to do 3 rounds for time.


Video here

Good luck, yikes!

~ time lapse ~

Ok, just did that.  I could hardly walk in the handstand, so I modified by keeping my feet on the ground and walking my hands to my feet into a downward dog position, then bracing my arms while walking my feet up the wall, trying to hold the handstand.  Burner.  Easier than what Z did.  With that intermediate modification, I did 3 rounds in 11:45

ZWOW #16 - Renegade

15 minutes - AMRAP (As Many Rounds As Possible)

1 round = 10 reps of each exercise below -

1. Renegade Rows (Z used two 20 lb dumbbells - yikes!)
2. Overhead Lunges (Z used one 15 lb plate)
3. Squat Jump Burpee
4. Crab Toe Touches (touch each toe = 1 rep)
5. Sumo Deadlift High Pull (Z used 35 lb kettlebell)

Z's score = 3 rounds (the video says 4, she was about to start her 4th, but completed 3)
Video here

I'll post how I do in the comments

ZWOW #15 - Skull Crusher

Just did ZWOW 15 and it was great!  (...hope I'm not sore for 5 days again this time...)

5 rounds for time
1 round = 10 reps of each

1. Ground to Overhead 
2. Single leg weighted squat (10 each leg)
3. Skull Crusher
4. V up
5. 180 Lat Jump Burpee

Zs time was 26:28
I beat her on this one, I got 24:56!  Woo!
Watch the Video here
(or below)

Yoga with Exercise Ball

I don't know why I'm on a yoga kick right now, but I'll try to take advantage of it while I'm here and see where it leads. Going to do this video tonight.

Stretching

So I did ZWOW #14 on Tuesday and I'm still sore from it.  My quads/thighs.  Man, I was able to do the whole thing without too much struggle, felt like the same good workout as usual, but those jump lunges with weights must have done me in.  I might have used too much weight - I was holding two 15 lb. dumbbells.  Zuzka didn't say what she was using, or if she did I didn't catch it.  All I heard her say was for men to pick up 30 lbs, so I figured "Ok, if that is two 30 lb dumbbells, then I'll do two 15 lbs." and looking at Z's, they looked like 10, 12, or 15 lb. dumbbells, I don't know, maybe it was just 10 and I was doing the man-workout, thus why I still can't walk without pain.  But I've been doing my May challenge stretching and that's been great- it feels good, and doing those 4 stretches in the video above (see the video in the "This Month's Challenge" tab) makes me want to keep extending and breathing, I want to do a full camel by next year.  Do you think that is possible?  How long does it take a person to get to that flexibility point of a 10 if they are starting at, say, I'm guessing I'm a 4 right now, maybe a 5?  I can hold a wheel pose for 1 minute, does that make me a 5?

I shall research it.  And I've been eating well, I think that stretching gets me in tune with my body and feels kind of like a workout, same effect, so it's been allright.  Going to do ZWOW 15 or 16 tomorrow I hope.  Might just go on a run with Corey.  We'll see.  :)

Pregnancy Workouts

Pregnancy Workouts

Here are some workouts I did during my last pregnancy - my baby was born in September 2011:

Upper Body -
1) seated shoulder press with 12 lb. dumbbells
2) side and front raises - 5 lb dmbls
3) bicep curls

July 30, 2011 - last trimester
50 back lung with twist holding exercise ball
50 plank w/knee tuck alt
50 lunges holding 5 lb dmbls
50 deadilft with 50 calf raises do each in sets of 10
100 side to side squat with leg kick out to side
1 min plank/ 1 min reverse plank 3x alt

on vacation in Park City
Aug1st
1000 stairs

Aug 2nd
400 lunges, planks

Aug 3rd Wed
Brutal 400
back lunge knee up
back ply/shoulder press
dead lift
snowboarder
lat pull

Fri Aug 5th
10 min planks

Sat Aug 6
lower body
upper - back, chest, shoulder
walk .5 mile

Mon Aug 8
180 switch touch
squat hip thrust
80/20 left
80/20 right
side lunges
groggy jump
planks 1:30 intervals center, reverse, side 10 hip thrust ea side, reverse, center

Tues - yoga stretching

Wed - Aug 10
400 lunges in back yard
BFL style calf and deadlifts
11 min elastic ban holds for sho, bi, tri, chest,
squat thrust 14x, 13x, 13, 14x

Thurs - Brutal 400
1) squat w/arms behind head
2) bed crunches
3) wide knee push ups
4) pendulum 25 each leg

Sat Aug 13
yoga 7 min
shoulder press bfl
upper body with elastic band

Mon
400 lunges + 6 min planks

Tues 12 HIIT
180 touch
squat hip thrust
80/20 left
80/20 right
side lunges
froggy jump

Wed Brutal 400
BFL style upper body
100 shoulder
100 bicep
100 chest
50 flys
50 push ups

Sat - 2 min upper body hold
w/elastic band
3 min table
3 min plank

ZWOW #14 - Curls & Lunges

Did this one yesterday, and my legs are so sore today.  I'm pretty positive it's from these weighted jump lunges here and not from my 400 lunges Monday. You want to give it a go?

1 round = 10 reps of each exercise

1. Push Up Press
2. Thruster
3. Back Curl Lunge
4. Preacher Curl
5. Weighted Lunge Jumps
6. Broad Jump Burpee

Do 5 rounds for time.

This was a great workout - Video Here
Z's time = 18:22 (she killed me - I got 24:59)

I used two 15 lb dumbbells for my weights, except for the preacher curls I couldn't do 15 and switched out for 12 lb dumbbells for that one.  Doing those jump lunges with weights, holy moly, I'm stinkin' sore today.  Going to go warm up and stretch and work on my flexibility today!