Where's the Beach?

Oops. She did it again! Would you believe me if I said I had 5 or 6 draft blog posts just sitting there waiting for me to finish and publish? True story. But am I publishing one of those? Of course not. But, I think this is one you might like. I recently shared a Full-Body Blast workout (with video) and talked about some tips for getting in a weight workout when you are crunched for time. Because I know time is something precious to us all, I thought I would share some more circuit workouts you can do quickly, but that are also effective. It's not always about how long you work out, it's about your efficiency and the quality. I like to split out my muscle groups so that I can really focus on a couple of muscle groups at one time, plus it makes for a shorter workout, perfect for me to get done during a lunch break. That being said, there is absolutely nothing wrong with full-body workouts either. It'a all about what works for you and sometimes just switching things u...

I don't know about you, but I am always looking for new workout ideas, especially when it comes to weight lifting. I tend to get bored pretty quickly with the same routine week in and week out - and so do my muscles. At the same time, I don't always have a lot of time to spend lifting weights, and am pretty sure most of us don't. But, that doesn't mean you can't get in an effective workout. I love supersets as a quick workout, but decided to change my strategy last week and go with trisets for the same muscle group - in this case it was back and biceps. Originally, I had thought it would be more of an endurance type of workout. Not so much major muscle building because I knew I would have to go a little lighter with my weights. But I ended up reading a pretty good article explaining trisets in more detail and discussing why they are actually good for building lean body mass. With a triset workout, you're keeping your muscles under tension, working for the e...

Kicking & Lifting This morning I ended up waking up early enough to get in a workout. So I went with my new Susan Chung Kickboxing DVD. I am really loving this one. At first I was slow to get moving. My legs were feeling yesterday's workout big time. But, once I got going, I really got into the workout. Now, let me preface the next part with the fact that my DVD player in my gym room died on me and we've yet to replace it. So, I've been having to drag the laptop into the room and use that to play DVDs for the time being. So, I'm punching and kicking right along, sweat flying...you get the idea. Then the DVD stops. And then the computer starts a 10-minute long freaking update/reboot process. WTH? Ok I really said something a lot worse than that. Nothing worse than being in the middle of a good workout and it be halted so abruptly. While the forever-long reboot was happening, I did get in some ab work at least. Finally the computer was up and running but of cou...

July 4 I hope everyone had a wonderful Fourth of July. My day started off with a hot 4-miler. The first mile was slow and heavy. I know it was the heat mostly, but my legs just weren't working with me. So when I saw that it was a 9:33 pace, I thought, "well this is going to suck." My legs started to loosen up a bit though. I started relaxing into the run and finding a good rhythm. So just when I started thinking about cutting the run short, I started to feel better about it. I ended up having negative splits for the remainder of the run: mile 2 - 8:55, mile 3 - 8:43, mile 4 - 8:40. After I got cleaned up, Jason and I had some errands to run. We had friends coming over and needed to pick up a few things. Of course we ended up taking far longer than expected and coming home with a lot more than expected as well. They ended up showing up around 1 and we immediately got in the pool. It was another hot hot triple digit day. The pool water wasn't even all that coolin...

Gym Day Typically Fridays are my rest days. But, I had a very unscheduled rest day on Monday, so today was another gym day. I guess since I'm not running, I can rethink my weight splits again for now. Of course, this leads to lots of overthinking, rethinking, thinking thinking thinking. I wasn't sure what I was going to do today. There is no spin on Friday unfortunately. I thought maybe I could tough out the elliptical with a magazine for about 30 minutes then do kettlebells for about 15 minutes. What I ended up doing was sort of a combo plus back. I was going to do back with biceps and triceps tomorrow, but this gave me a chance to focus specifically on back. That's a good thing of course. I can work the back without being tired from the biceps. So, I did 20 minutes easy on the elliptical to warm up before doing supersets for back. I went with 2x8 unless noted: SS#1 Wide-grip assisted chinups Pullovers (increased weight) SS#2 Barbell rows Incline rear flyes ...

What do you do when you're in a funk? I workout. When I get into a funk, I try to rely on exercise to help boost my mood. But we all know that when you're kind of down and out, finding the motivation or want-to to exercise can be even harder. It makes me realize how easy it could be to just stop working out and why so many people likely do actually. I keep trying to remind myself that I almost always feel better after the workout though.  I skipped my 3-mile run yesterday, so I'm definitely off my half marathon training plan this week. I kind of thought maybe I'd do the run today on the treadmill then do back and chest. But when it came right down to it, I was NOT going to run even a single mile on the treadmill. I know it's a big mental block I have, but if I wasn't going to have a damn enjoyable run, then it wasn't going to go down period. And it's raining and cold, so that meant treadmill if I wanted to run. Why is this half marathon training in ...

Legs & Back Today was another gorgeous, but fairly windy day out. It started off in the 30's, but thankfully it did warm up into the low 60's at least. It's definitely starting to feel like true fall. No going back to summer now. I dedicated today as my leg day (leg and back actually). I must set aside one day before a rest day for legs each week regardless of what I'd rather do. Though, I had no desire to do spin today, I'll say that much. Oddly, I was kind of looking forward to working legs. While it's not my favorite muscle group, doing things like barbell squats can sort of make you feel like a badass. Of course, right now my weights aren't nearly where they used to be, but it gives me something to work towards. Since I needed to get in back work, I went with trisets of 3x8 unless noted after a 15-minute warm up session on the elliptical: Squats - warmup set of 10 TS#1 Squats Plie Squats Pullovers - 10 reps TS#2 Swing lunges (I star...

Two on Thursday This morning started off checking off a to-enjoy list entry: morning run with hubby. Jason was not nearly as excited about the early morning run as I was. I think he fell asleep in the car on the way back home ;-) I got in just under 6 miles (5.9 to be exact; yes I like to be exact). It really was a great run again today, though the humidity was definitely up there and not a bit of a breeze to help out in the cooling department. But, everything just clicked. Then again, maybe I wasn't awake enough to know any better. During lunch, I was able to get my back workout done and some abs. I went with giant sets today of 2x8 and 1x10 Double-arm dumbbell row Pullover Rear flye Band work - lat pull downs - 2x12 I did abs from Cathe's Power Hour DVD. It was a pretty good workout, but I really wish I had a barbell at the house for barbell rows. I feel like I have better form and can lift heavier weights for underhand position. Oh, while I'm "wishing,...

Weights & Elliptical on Wednesday  Today I had thought about running 3-4 miles of tomorrow's planned run making tomorrow's run with intervals shorter. But, my legs were against that idea. So, I decided to hit the gym after work (despite the fact that it was way to nice out to be inside). I wanted to get back done, and had thought I might do chest as well to be done with weights for the week. In the end, I just did back and abs. I started with 20 minutes on the elliptical to warm up before hitting the weights. I really only planned on 10, but someone was using the barbell I needed. This is yet another tweaked version of my last back workout from Cathe's STS rotation. It was done at 4 sets of 8 reps at my 1RM. Pullovers Single-arm rows Underhand barbell rows (I omitted the single-arm horizontal rows) Assisted pullups - 2x6 (I tried to go as light as I could with the assist) I also did some ab work before finishing up with about 5 minutes more on the elliptic...

Early Morning Workouts I had another crappy night of sleep last night. I woke up at 3:30 and never went back to sleep. I finally got out of bed at 5:15 and got my workouts done. Because yesterday's workout was such a doozy, I decided to keep today's short and fairly easy (not that this weight set up was exactly a cake walk). Today was back done at 90% of 1RM doing 4 sets of 6 reps. Underhand rows Single-arm rows Pullovers Single-arm horizontal rows I added in low back extensions on the stability ball and finished off with two combos from Cathe's MMA Boxing . Very glad to have the workouts done for the day. Sister's Surgery Update And, after the blizzard-like snow we had yesterday, it all melted and dried up by around 5-ish. Yep, not a sign that there was ever that much snow other than an iced-over car this morning. While I love my house, I do not love that we don't have covered parking. It took forever to de-ice. Actually, it took a while just to break ...

Working Out on Friday So today is supposed to be my rest day, but since I took the day off Wednesday, I packed my gym bag and took it with me to work. This meant I had no excuse to skip the workout. I worked through lunch so I could leave at 3 pm. This also helped prevent any excuses. I hit the gym for a 10-minute warm up on the elliptical then back from STS Week 2 of Meso 3 . This week the weights increase and the reps drop to 4x7. Underhand rows One-arm rows Pullovers (in lieu of deadlifts) One-arm horizontal rows I added on low back extensions on the stability ball then finished off with 20 minutes on the elliptical. Fun Facts Friday - Resolutions vs Goals Tonight will be our typical Pizza and Pool Friday. It just makes meal planning so much easier on Friday evenings after a long work week. Now I know you all are asking, "So how does this fit in with Fun Facts Friday???" And it doesn't. Just chatting is all. But since you all brought up Fun Facts Friday...

Gym Day Well, today the temps were back closer to the normal range - as in 51 not 73. Today was like my Friday as we are off Thursday and Friday for the holidays. Even better, I got to leave at 12:30 pm. Now that's a Christmas gift for sure! I had packed my gym bag this morning because I knew I wanted to work back today. I wasn't sure if I would be hitting up spin class or just the elliptical. Since I got off work early (though not early enough for the noon spin class), I just hit the elliptical for my cardio. Since I missed Week 2 of STS Meso 2 , I went with that for my Week 4 workout. I decided to start at 70% and work up to 80% of my 1RM with each set so that I was hitting the 80% as I was supposed to this week. Warm up on elliptical for 10 minutes Pullups Medium grip chinups Chinups Barbell rows - 12,10,8,TF 1-arm rows - 12,10,8,TF Pullovers - 12,10,8,TF Low back extensions on ball Again, I left out the band work and deadlifts and substituted with pullovers ...

Gym Day Today was a gym day for me, though I was really debating a rest day. While not enjoying the elliptical, I've been enjoying getting my back workouts in at the gym where I can do assisted pullups/chinups. I can already feel the strength gains from working on those. Today was STS Meso 2, Disc 21 . I did omit the band work and deadlifts and added in pullovers and low back extensions on the stability ball. I did warm up for 10 minutes on the elliptical first. Pull Ups Overhand - 12 Chinups Medium Grip - 12 Chinups - 12 Barbell rows - 12,10,8 1-arm Row - 12,10,8,12,10,8 (double dropset) Pullovers (in lieu of deadlifts) 12,10,8 Low back extension on stability ball - 2x16 After the back workout, I headed back to the elliptical for about 25 minutes. I have been less than enthusiastic about  working out lately and I contribute that to the weather and also not being able to get in the cardio I really would love to be doing. When you aren't doing what you enjoy, it mak...

Spinning & Lifting  Today I decided to try spin class. It's been ages since I've gone. I just couldn't stand to do the elliptical once more. I did use the elliptical to warm up for 5 minutes before hitting the weights for back. Today was exercises from STS Meso 2, Disc 18 . It is supposed to start off with 3 different exercises using a resistance band. I opted to not use the band, but start with the pullups/chinups and add pullovers. I did use the assisted pullup/chinup machine. Pullups - 12 Medium grip chinups - 12 Chinups - 12 Underhand barbell rows: 12,10,8,TF 1-arm horizontal row: 12,10,8,TF Pullovers: 12,10,8 After weights it was on to spin. They didn't have the newest track yet, so that meant an old track, but I admit I like that one better than the last one they were using way back eons ago when I went.. It was a good, sweaty class, but my IT band is definitely achy now. Too bad it isn't summer and I could just jog in my pool, because apparently...

Back to the Gym It was another frigid morning here. The crazy thing is that it started off as 32 then warmed up to 62. And of course that made me itch to run. But I behaved myself and hit the gym after work instead. Today I decided to do a 10 minute warm up on the elliptical then work my back (get the title now: back to the gym...). The workout comes from STS Meso 2, Disc 15 . And yes, I even brought my own resistance band along with me ;-) Oh, and for the chinups/pullups, I do have to do assisted exercises. I suppose if I take my back workouts to the gym more often, then maybe one day I'll be able to do them unassisted. Lat pulldowns with band -12 T-Pull with band - 12 Y's with band - 12 Pull Ups Overhand - 12 or 30 seconds Chinups Medium Grip - 12 or 30 seconds Chinups - 12 or 30 seconds One Arm Row - 12, 10, 8, TF Barbell Rows - 12, 10, 8, TF Note: There were supposed to be deadlifts with this workout as well, but I opted out of them today. Overall, it was a pr...

Magnesium? I did have a better night's rest last night finally. No restless legs, or running legs is what my mom always called them long before it had a name, Restless Leg Syndrome. Averie commented that I might try adding in a magnesium supplement. Interested in the idea, I looked it up and indeed, certain deficiencies such as magnesium. Running most definitely can deplete magnesium levels, and I've definitely been putting in the mileage so that makes sense. Thanks Averie ! Back and Boxing I thought I might do back and chest today during my break, but my shoulders are still sore from that workout so chest work wouldn't have gone so smoothly I'm afraid. So I just went with back and 2 combos from Cathe's MMA Boxing . I ran out of time to do the 3rd combo or to do abs. So I finished it up after work. For the back workout, I went with trisets: TS#1 - 3x8 Pullovers Underhand rows Single-arm rows TS#2 Lat pulldowns with band - 2x16 Low back extension on ba...

  (edited with photos) What a Run Today was a gorgeous day, especially after the dreary day we had yesterday. What does this mean? Um a run at lunch of course. I am absolutely loving being able to run mid-day again. It was just a bit over 70 degrees when I got started with only a slight breeze. Today was one of those days when I had to force myself to stop running and get back to work. I was sort of pounding out some frustrations while enjoying the gorgeous day. I really felt like I could have done another 2 miles at least even at the pace I was holding. I ended up doing 4.9 miles in 40:40 for an average 8.18 pace. I am pretty proud of that actually. It definitely makes me feel strong. I guess what I am most proud of is that I wasn't really trying to run for speed today, just trying to enjoy the run. I supposed that sometimes when you just relax and go with it, you end up surprising yourself (and yes, I am surprised with myself). I did a lot of reflecting, thinking, looking ...

Friday Workouts  So, today I was off work. Very excited about that. I didn't really sleep in like I had hoped - only slept another 30 minutes extra perhaps. Oh well, better than nothing I suppose. I pretty much piddled around for a while before doing any workouts, chores, etc. That was a nice change of pace. I think every day should start that way. Today I did back. I did tri sets of 3x10. TS#1 Underhand rows Pullovers Double-arm rows TS#2 Reverse flyes Lat band pulldowns Low back extensions on ball I was really torn between getting outside for a run or doing step aerobics. I really and truly needed to rest the legs though. This is why I really didn't want to take Wednesday as a rest day. I kind of needed today to be my rest day. But, things happen and you roll with it. Rather than getting out for a run, I did Cathe's MMA Boxing . I listened to my body and saved the legs. Free Day Means Errands and Chores After my workouts, I got cleaned up, ate lunch th...

Hitting the Gym on Hump Day Wow, so today was another super busy and hectic day for me at work. I did at least leave for a lunch break. Jason and I had some errands to run. It was nice to get out of the building and see sunshine. We've been enjoying going to the Wednesday night Group Ride (spin) class together, so that was the plan for today. After work, I walked over to the gym and did about 10 minutes on the treadmill to warm up then I did biceps and back. I was excited to do back at the gym because I could do chin ups for a change. They lie when they say those pull up bars fit all doorways. Anyway, I supersetted the workout doing 3 sets of 8 reps. SS#1 Hammer curls Single-arm rows SS#2 Alternating curls Pullovers SS#3 Cross-body curls - 3x10 Wide-grip chin ups (assisted) - 5,4,5 1 set of 21's for biceps curls 1 set of 12 reps for double-arm rows My back and biceps workout felt really good. It was a nice change adding in the chin ups. After the weight work...

Made it Home Well, we made it back safe and sound last night. It was a pretty good trip home actually. We talked pretty much the entire time, so that made time go by fairly quickly (or for me anyway). It was definitely nice to sleep in my own bed and shower in my own shower. It's amazing how much little things like that matter and you can miss them when away. Home Workout This morning my boss let us go in a little later, so I got up and got in my workouts around 7 am. In other words, I actually got to sleep in an extra 45 minutes AND get in my workouts before work. It was so nice to work out at home. I did back today as a tri set of 3x10 then a superset of 2x16: TS Pullovers Underhand rows Single-arm rows SS Lat band pulldowns Lower back extension on stability ball I followed up the workout with Cathe's Low Impact Circuit and abs. It was a nice change of pace doing the step workout as opposed to running or one of the kickboxing/boxing DVDs. It was only about 72...