It's a good excuse for a bike ride.

Guess what?  I have stomach muscles!  And thigh muscles....and triceps!  Yep...they're there.  I am feeling them this morning!  lol  When I first woke up, my shoulders were achy.  Now?  It's my thighs that are the worst.  But, that's what happens when you use those "unused" muscles so I'm not complaining.  :)

If you can't tell from today's quote, it's recumbent bike day.  I was going to ride my bike the other day, but the batteries were dead.  So, I'm changing them today and getting on that thing.  It's quiet and I can workout while Addy naps.  I ended up working out in my dining room and on the back deck yesterday.  I did jump rope outside on the deck, so I wouldn't disturb Addy while doing that.  Since it was a tabata workout, I just did everything in the dining room/kitchen area.  I went to all this trouble to write down each exercise on a dry erase board and even numbered them for the 8 rounds.  It was misty outside and I didn't think, but my dry erase board got wet, so I had to scrounge during my first 10 second break to find pen and paper.  It was not fun, especially when I thought I was prepared.  I really liked the Tabata timer app that I downloaded.  I had it set for 60-second preparation, then 8 20-second workout rounds with 10-second breaks in between.  When my eighth round was completed ad it shut off, I would just hit the start button and then I had the perfect minute in between exercises.  Much easier than trying to workout and stare at a clock!

Well, things to do this morning.  It looks like someone wants to watch Frozen AGAIN!  I'll let you know about my workout after it's completed.  :)

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Wake up with determination. Go to bed with satisfaction.

This is a good one for me today.  I did not get a chance to work out yesterday.  I was rearranging the office/workout room so I could have Addy's t.v. out of the way and still have room to work out, plus just work.  Then, I just lost all of my mojo.  I just can't seem to force myself to do things these days, but I hope to improve on that.  If you're at the bottom you can only go up, right?  Or...stay at the bottom - which is not what I want.  Since I didn't work out yesterday, I did that workout today. 

Here's what I did today...

  Tabata This!  20 seconds of work, 10 seconds of rest, 1 minute in between each exercise

     Jump rope          - 11 - 0 - 19 - 10 - 6 - 10 - 12 - 11

     Squats                 - 10 - 12 - 11 - 8 - 10 - 10 - 9 - 10

     Push press, 24#  - 18 - 12 - 14 - 10 - 10 - 9 - 8 - 8

     Push-ups*          - 8 - 9 - 9 - 9 - 9 - 9 - 7 - 6

     Sit-ups                - 1 - 4 - 4 - 3 - 0 - 4 - 2 - 3

*I did wall push-ups today.  I will say it is crazy how slow/out of shape/sore I am!  The one exercise that I always sucked at before is the one that was actually okay today and that was jump rope.  I did way better this go around doing jump rope.  And by that, I mean actually jumping the rope several times in a row without missing and starting over.  I was surprised at how weak my thighs are when I was doing squats.  My legs were so squiggly before I finished those up.  AND push-presses, which I used to breeze through - ridiculous squiggly arms!  I knew sit-ups would be bad, so that didn't surprise me.  And yes, I had a round of "zero".  I just couldn't do it.  The stretch felt too good!  lol

Well, I will say I got up and worked out.  I'm going to go ahead and take an aspirin and hopefully head off the pain.  My thighs are already throbbing.  I just need to not let myself get to this point again.  This will be a good workout to do periodically and see if I have improved or not.   

   



The first 5 days after the weekend are always the hardest!

Yes, they are!  lol  I'm sure you noticed I went MIA last week.  A stomach bug decided to visit my house and that was NOT fun.  I'm hoping this week will be a much better week than last week.  One thing I do ask...please try not to judge me too bad this go around.  I have great intentions, but I am a procrastinator.  Most of my siblings are procrastinators as well.  I don't recall my parents being that way, but then again I never really paid that much attention to the grown ups in my world when I was younger.  I was too busy outside having fun!  Anyway, please don't be harsh.  My psyche likes positive thoughts not negative ones.  ;)

Today's workout choices are listed below.  I do believe I'm doing HIITMamas today.  I need to try to figure out some way for me to keep up with the 20 seconds in an easy way.  Maybe I can find a timer online and have it on my computer where I can see it easy.  It'd be great if I had the time to do a recording or something with a timer going off after 20 seconds and one minute repeatedly.  I might see what I can do.

HIITMamas:

   Tabata this!

      8 rounds each exercise, 20 seconds each round with 10 second breaks in between

      1 minute rest between each exercise

         - jump rope

         - squat

         - push press, 20#

         - push-ups

         - butterfly sit-ups

   They suggest you write down your reps during your 10-second break.

Brand X CrossFit:

   "Randy"

      buttercups (beginning beginners)

         35 power snatch, using PVC-15# weights

--UPDATE--  I found a tabata timer at the Google Play Store.  It's called HIIT Timer and it looks awesome.  I can't wait to see how well it works today.  :)

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Another day....another workout!

Well, I am pleased to say that I was not sore this morning when I woke up.  I did take a nice, long, hot bubble bath last night.  I was feeling a little stiff before I went to bed so I was surprised not to feel any soreness.  My left knee has been wonky for a few days and I thought it would bother me while on the treadmill yesterday, but it was fine.  I just feel a twinge whenever I go to sit down or go down steps.  It hasn't been as bad today as it was yesterday, and that's a good thing!


The two workouts I have to choose from today are:
   HIIT Mamas
      5 rounds for time
        - 20 bench dips
        - 14 thrusters, 20-30# weights


   CrossFit Brand X:
      prep - 3 rounds or 5 minutes
        10 arm circles forwards
        10 arm circles backwards
        5 explosive push-ups
        5 power ball
      beginner
        21-15-9
          push press, 20-30# weights
          box jumps, 12-20"


I believe I'm going to do the HIIT Mamas workout today.  Y'all wish me luck!


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Queenie Gets in Shape Again!

Yup...that's the plan.  Let's hope I stick to it.  It's going to be tricky because I am still babysitting my beautiful granddaughter, Addy.  She will be 17 months old on Thursday.  She's a lot more independent and a lot more mobile, so we'll see how it goes.  I am not going to go all "gung-ho" on starting, but start at my pace and then do more and more.  I am going to follow the same CrossFit/type blogs that I followed before - HIIT Mamas and CrossFit Brand X.  I may or may not stick to just those two workouts.  I haven't really decided.  I do know that I plan to do something every day - I just don't know what that something is.


I have made a resolution - which is to do the equivalent of a minimum of 1 mile/day, whether on my treadmill or outside (weather permitting).  Seven miles per week is my commitment for now.  Which means, if it comes Sunday and I haven't done anything, then my butt will do all seven miles on Sunday, which doesn't sound like fun...at all.  So I'm going to work really hard to keep that from happening.  My workout week will begin on Mondays and end on Sundays. 


Todays blog workouts are listed below...
   HIIT Mamas:
      4 rounds each for time -
         run 800 meters
      *rest as needed between rounds
   CrossFit Brand X:
      rest day


I'm choosing HIIT Mamas today, but I will not be running.  I will walk the entire two miles.  I don't know what speed, incline, etc. until I get upstairs on my treadmill.  Again, I'm not going all gang-busters....it is my first day back after all.  I should have no problem doing this since Addy is not here on Mondays.  She stays with her other grandmother every Monday, unless it's a doctor's appointment day or if the other grandmother has plans.


I'm super excited to be back "at it" and I hope you bear with me as I start this journey and try not to judge me too hard. 


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Done!  I admit, it felt good to sweat again - without having a hot flash!  lol  I did the entire two miles and my time was not great, but I wanted to start off slow and I made sure I was doing a speed on the treadmill so I wouldn't have to hold on to the handles.  I'm listing the breakdown of speed/incline below.


50:31 total time
200 meters @ 2.0 speed/0 incline
200 meters @ 2.4 speed/2 incline
200 meters @ 2.6 speed/3 incline
200 meters @ 2.6 speed/4 incline
200 meters @ 2.8 speed/0 incline
200 meters @ 2.8 speed/2 incline
200 meters @ 2.8 speed/4 incline
100 meters @ 2.8 speed/2 incline
25 meters @ 2.6 speed/0 incline
25 meters @ 2.4 speed/0 incline
25 meters @ 2.2 speed/0 incline
25 meters @ 2.0 speed/0 incline


I plan to take a long soak in the tub tonight and try out some new bath bubbles I received for Christmas.  Hopefully I won't be too sore tomorrow.


Two miles down, 5 to go for my weekly minimum!!  :)

Taking a "blog" break...

Okay - I know I need to work on my new schedule.  I do...I really do.  I was unable to work out yesterday because Addy was NOT feeling well at all - her poor little nose is either stuffy or runny.  I swear all I did yesterday was suck it out with the "snot-sucker"!  lol 

I am not going to post anything until I can get into a normal routine with her.  I'm still writing down the workouts from HIIT Mamas and am still going to try to do them.  I just feel like such a failure because I haven't been able to do them lately, yet I know Addy comes first.  I'll post when I can workout - so hopefully this blog won't be totally blank.  I know things will get easier, but I'm just trying to catch up on work or housework while she naps and I just play with her while she's awake.  It won't be for long, so bear with me!!

Failure is not fatal.  Only failure to get back up is.  Well...that's a good thing in my case, isn't it?  lol  I want everyone to know that I am NOT a lazy bum/couch potato whenever I don't get a workout in.  I'm just busy.  I did not workout yesterday.  My original plan was to catch up on office paperwork for most of the day since Addy was at her other grandmother's house.  Well, I did make it into the office, but only for about 45 minutes.  Then, I started on Hayley's laundry, which led me to finally getting her winter clothes out and putting her summer clothes away, which led me to going through all of her clothes and getting rid of what she doesn't/can't wear any more, which led me to cleaning out the closet and under her bed and before I knew it I had to stop and pick her up from school.  I then finished up everything after I got back.  Right when I was getting ready to go work out, Katy called to see if I could pick her up from work.  The clutch went out on Andy's car so it was in the shop, so he drove Katy to work but when it came time for her to leave he was in the middle of his work and couldn't leave and she had to go so she could feed Addy and keep her on schedule.  So, being the great mom that I am...yada, yada, yada.  :)   Anyway - the point is - I was very busy yesterday and my butt muscles are sore.  Not sure what I did that used them so much yesterday, but yeah - they're there! 

My plan is to do the workout I planned to do yesterday - "20 x 20".  I'm not going to list them all again - just read yesterday's blog.  :)
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