Laura’s Summer Goal Week 7: Circuit Workouts

August 5, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Wednesday’s workout was a body circuit/sprint combination that was a great workout when you don’t have access to a gym.   Here is what I did.

Warm Up:  5′ Walk and 5′ Jog

1′ Walking Lunges

1′ Sprint, 30 seconds walk

1′ Squats

1′ Sprint, 30 seconds walk

1′ Squat Thrusts

1′ Sprint, 30 seconds walk

Jog 2 minutes and repeat above

Jog 10 Minutes, Stretch, 100 crunches of different kinds

You could modify this workout by walking fast instead of sprinting and doing different body weight exercises.  It took about 45 minutes and was a great start to the day.

For Thursday’s 30′ walk we went on a family hike and had a great time creek walking and playing in the water.  Reminding me that exercise can be fun.  I did 20 minutes of yoga while my daughter was napping leaving me feeling refreshed for the rest of the day.

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Simplify: Monday and Tuesday Week 7

August 3, 2010 By Leave a Comment

     During Monday’s yoga class the teacher, Leigh Ann, talked about the idea of simplifying.  She talked about all the layers that we require of ourselves and the demands we put on ourselves.   She reminded us that sometimes simplifying is letting go of something or it could be quieting the mind to be truly present in the moment.  Perhaps one could even simplify their workouts.  I considered this as I made my exercise plan for this week and tried to make a challenging yet possible plan.   

      As Moms our to-do lists can be extremely long:  work duties, household choes, shopping, fixing meals, getting the kids ready for school, volunteering, etc…  How much pressure do you put on yourself to be “Super Mom”?  What task can you let go of to simplify and enjoy life more?        

       This morning, Tuesday, I went for a 30′ jog around the neighborhood.  This has gotten my day off to a great start.  I love getting my workout in first thing and running when it is still quiet outside is relaxing.  I’ll be looking today for other ways to simplify and let go of tasks that are keeping me from enjoying the moment.

Live Well,

Laura

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Laura’s Summer Goal Week 7 Plan

August 2, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Goal:  I am so happy and feel great that I have accomplished my 8 week summer exercise goal.  Each week I ran four times, practiced yoga three times and lifted weights twice.

Monday

  • Yoga Class

Tuesday

  • 30′ Run

Wednesday

  • Full Body Circuit With Running Intervals

Thursday

  • 30′ Walk
  • 20′ Yoga

Friday

  • Full Body Circuit With Running Intervals 

Saturday

  • 40′ Run
  • 20′ Yoga

Sunday

  • Reflection
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Laura’s Summer Goal Week 6 Review

August 2, 2010 By 1 Comment

Goal:  I am so happy and feel great that I have accomplished my 8 week summer exercise goal.  Each week I ran four times, practiced yoga three times and lifted weights twice.

Monday

  • 20′ Run

Tuesday

  • Fully Body Lift

Wednesday

  • 30′ Run
  •  20′ Yoga

Thursday

  • Yoga Class
  • 20′ Cross Training No

Friday

  • Full Body Lift
  • Run Intervals 

Saturday

  • 40′ Run  No did a family hike instead.
  • 20′ Yoga

Sunday

  • Reflection

     Overall I feel really good about this week.  There were only two workouts I didn’t get done and for the Saturday one we did a family hike instead.

     Friday was such a hot day, I felt like I had to drag myself thru my workout to begin.  I did the circuit from our book, 10′ warm up on the elliptical, a full body weight circuit, 10′ of intervals, 5′ abs and some stretching.  I felt very energized afterwards and it was done in about 45 minutes.  For more information check out our book, Mindful Makeover for Moms.

      Saturday we had some out of town friends call us at 10:00 AM and see if we wanted to go hiking, so we met them at 11:00 at Bent Creek and took our daughter on her first 3 mile hike.  There were some piggy backs given, but she did great.  She had fun and took a 4 hour nap afterwards.

       It is hard to believe that I am in the last two weeks of this goal.  This summer has been very fun and very busy.  The challenge this week is that I’m on vacation from teaching, so I’ll be out of my normal routine which always makes it harder to exercise. 

Live Well,

Laura

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Finding Mindfulness In Yoga

July 30, 2010 By Leave a Comment

    

Finding Mindfulness and Listening to Your Body

Yoga is a special part of my fitness routine where I slow down, listen to my body, and practice mindfulness. Thursday’s workout was a Yoga class at Brightwater Yoga (http://www.brightwateryoga.com) taught by  Leigh Ann.  Special thanks to my husband for babysitting so I could go! 

      Leigh Ann’s classes are always wonderful.  She opened the class sharing about how our bodies carry stress and that stress can manifest in our physical body. Perhaps as tightness in our back, jaw, shoulders or upper back. Sometimes we notice the physical ailment and sometimes we just get used to the feeling.  In class tonight, after doing headstand I had some tightness in my chest.  The same thing happened a few weeks ago after doing handstand.  I asked Leigh Ann if there was something wrong with my form and she said I looked like I was in alignment. As class continued my mind went back to her opening thoughts in class about stress manifesting in our physical bodies. A light bulb went on! I realized the tightness was really anxiety that I’ve been carrying around attempting to release. I am always amazed by what my body tells me when I tune in a listen. 
We ended the class with a long final relaxation, I felt very relaxed, grounded and peaceful as I headed home.  Such a treat to take time for myself to listen to my body and find out what it is trying to tell me. 

     How can you find some time to mindfully tune in and listen to your internal signals?

Live Well,

Laura

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Wednesday Week 6

July 28, 2010 By Leave a Comment

     Today I had a great lesson in how our mind talks us out of exercising.  My plan for today was to run for 30 minutes after work, before I picked up my daughter.  Due to meetings and a lot of work to do at the end of the semester I only had 20 minutes to run before I needed to pick her up.  My first thought was that isn’t enough time so I got in my car drove towards her school.  Then I thought, “I’m going to have to post on my blog that I didn’t do my run.”  My next thought was, “Well, I do have 20 mintues I could do something and I always say something is better than nothing.”  So I stopped my car about 10 parking spaces up from my original spot and went for a 20 minute run.  I felt so much better after just that short run and was reminded about how my mindset can either keep me moving towards my goals or away from them.  Of course, the accountablity of blogging about my progress was also a great motivator.     

Live Well,

Laura

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Laura’s Week Five Reflection

July 27, 2010 By Leave a Comment

 

Goal:  I am so happy and feel great that I have accomplished my 8 week summer exercise goal.  Each week I ran four times, practiced yoga three times and lifted weights twice.

Monday

  • Off

Tuesday

  • Fully Body Lift
  • 20′ Cardio

Wednesday

  • Yoga Class  Went to a Bikram Yoga Class

Thursday

  • 30′ Run
  • 20′ Yoga

Friday

  • 30′ Body Circuit Workout 8 Mile Hike to Ramsey Falls Instead

Saturday

  • 40′ Run 30 Minute Body Circuit Instead (30 seconds each of squats, lunges, mountain climbers, push- ups and squat thrusts, then we did a 1 minute hill sprint.  Repeated four times.)
  • 20′ Yoga

Sunday

  • Reflection
  • 20′ Hill Interval Run No

      I feel good about last week’s workouts.  They were a little different than I had originally planned, but they were varied and fun.  Tuesday and Thursday were both good workouts at the gym. 

     Wednesday I went to a Bikram yoga class.  I’ve been to a hot yoga class before, but not a Bikram class.  It was very different from the classes I usually attend.  While I was doing the class I thought the timed poses and 20 second Shavasana were strange, but I felt great afterwards and great on Thursday.  The studio was far from my house so I won’t go all the time, but I would go back.  http://www.hotyogaasheville.com/

       We were traveling over the weekend in Gatlinburg, TN so on Friday I got to go on an 8 mile hike to Ramsay Cascadesn the Great Smokey Mountains National Park.  It was so beautiful.  I love hiking and getting away from everyday life for a little while.  Here is a link about the hike if you are interested.  http://www.waterfall-picture-guide.com/ramsay-cascades.html

     Saturaday I recruited 4 other family members to do the body circuit/hill sprints with me.  The heat index was a steamy 105, but we sufferred through it together and had a fun time.  I usually work out by myself so I had forgotten how fun it is to workout with friends. 

     Sunday I was exhausted from staying up to late on the trip and took a nap instead of working out.   

      The variety of the week was great and finding ways to workout with other people while we were traveling made the workouts more fun.   

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Laura’s Week Five Summer Goal Action Steps

July 20, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Goal:  I am so happy and feel great that I have accomplished my 8 week summer exercise goal.  Each week I ran four times, practiced yoga three times and lifted weights twice.

Monday

  • Off

Tuesday

  • Fully Body Lift
  • 20′ Cardio

Wednesday

  • Yoga Class

Thursday

  • 30′ Run
  • 20′ Yoga

Friday

  • 30′ Body Circuit Workout

Saturday

  • 40′ Run
  • 20′ Yoga

Sunday

  • Reflection
  • 20′ Hill Interval Run

     This week I will be traveling over the weekend so I’m going to do a body circuit workout for my second weight session instead of something in the weight room.  I think I”ve made a realistic plan that can fit in with everything I have going on this week, so we’ll see how it goes.

Live Well,

Laura

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Laura’s Week Four Reflection

July 19, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Goal: I am so happy and feel great that I have accomplished my 8 week summer exercise goal.  Each week I ran four times, practiced yoga three times and lifted weights twice.

Monday

  • Journal

Tuesday

  • Upper Lift
  • 20′ Yoga
  • 20′ Run
  • Mindful Moment

Wednesday

  • Lower Lift No
  • 20′ Yoga
  • Intervals 1′ hard, 1′ easy x 6 No
  • Journal

Thursday

  • Upper Lift No
  • 15′ Ellipitical No
  • Journal

Friday

  • Yoga Class
  • 30′ Run No
  • Mindful Moment

Saturday

  • 40′ Run Moved to Sunday and Did
  • Journal

Sunday

  • Reflection

    • Monday and Tuesday started off strong.  Yea!  I had a mental battle on Tuesday about working out and almost convinced myself that I didn’t have enough time.  In reality, by using my time wisely I had enough time.  Wednesday I had a massive headache all day and skipped my workouts to relax.  My husband stepped in and made dinner and put our daughter to bed.  That was so great!

    Thursday was very busy at work and I chose to go out to dinner instead of doing my workouts.  I missed my workout, but my husband and I got to go out to eat at The Admiral and attend a concert to celebrate his birthday.  It was a great time together, so I am glad I made that choice.  Friday I got to a great morning yoga class at Brightwater, but I did not get in my run.  My childhood friend Leslie and her two year old son were coming into town.  Normally, I can let my house go but I had to get it cleaned up for my guests.  So my workout got shortened.  Saturday we had a party for Martha.  It was a busy day with friends coming into town and getting ready for the party so I moved the run to Sunday.  This week I chose to spend time with my husband and friends who were visiting instead of getting every workout in.  I’m okay with that choice because I only see my friend a few times a year and I will get back to my workouts this week.  Another strategy might be to plan sho  In busy times it is important to pick shorter workouts, so that I can do both.  This weekend I will be traveling to a family reunion in Gatlinburg, TN so I will plan shorter workouts that I can do and still have plenty of time for catching up with family.

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Laura’s Week Four Action Steps

July 13, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Goal:  I am so happy and feel great that I have accomplished my 8 week summer exercise goal.  Each week I ran four times, practiced yoga three times and lifted weights twice.

Monday

  • Journal

Tuesday

  • Upper Lift
  • 20′ Yoga
  • 20′ Run
  • Mindful Moment

Wednesday

  • Lower Lift
  • 20′ Yoga
  • Intervals 1′ hard, 1′ easy x 6
  • Journal

Thursday

  • Upper Lift
  • 15′ Ellipitical
  • Journal

Friday

  • Yoga Class
  • 30′ Run
  • Mindful Moment

Saturday

  • 40′ Run
  • Journal

     My intention this week is to get back on track after getting off the workout wagon last week.  This feels like an extra busy week with a lot to accomplish at work and a family gathering this weekend (which will be great!).  I will have to manage my time well and make good choices to get everything done. 

     As I said in my reflection for week three I am going to be aware of how much time I spend on the internet as that can be a real time sink for me.

     For my workouts I am going to try getting back on the ellipitical.  That has been hurting my leg so we will see how that goes.  I am also changing my weight routine to a upper and lower split instead of circuits for a little variety.

Live Well,

Laura

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