What the bleep were those cards about?

The other day I posted this picture of cards on my facebook asking anyone if they knew what they were for..squats and lunges was the closest response. Yes you do squats with these..but how?

The idea is that you're doing 100 squats. Before starting this exercise you must make sure your form is good- so that you dont hurt your back. You're starting straight, feet are shoulder width apart. When you squat down to pick up the card, you're using you squat to bring you down to pick up the card. DO NOT bend over to pick up the card- this will cause injury to your back. You will be doing a very deep squat to allow you to go low enough to pick up the card. Once you've got the squat down, you focus on speed. Up and down up and down- feel the burn. When doing this exercise imagine as if you're doing it with a friend, and its a competition who will win- better yet do it with a friend!

Stand at the front on the mat, in starting position.
Squat down pick up the first card.
Place the first card on top of the second card.
Pick up the first card and the second card SEPARATELY.
Place the first card, then the second on top of the third.
Pick up card one, then card, then card three.
Place card one, card two, card three on top of card 4.
You get the drift...

Your butt will be burning, your thighs will be screaming, your heart will be pounding, sweat will be dripping (especially once you start doing 20-30 cards) BUT they will thank you later!

Enjoy!

The Calorie Counter..

The other day I stopped into Sports Authority and purchased the Polar FT4 Heart Rate Monitor. It monitors your heart rate making sure you're in your fat burning zone- as well as tells you the amount of calories you burned during your workout.

While the numbers may not be 100% accurate, its interesting to see the difference of calories burned in each workout. For instance, 60 minutes of run-walk intervals burned roughly 438 calories while 30 min run plus 20 minute weight training burned 392. It's a small yet motivating piece pushing you harder cuz once you know the amount of calories you burn on average during your workout you'll want to increase that each time. I went to a dance class on Sunday, it was a 3 hour fundraiser- allowing you to come in and leave at any time. I stayed the 3 hours wearing my monitor- and was pleasantly surprised to see 1,686 calories burned after the class! We wont get into how my legs felt the rest of the day- or the enormous appetite I had- but the fun was well worth it!

This morning was a short 7 am workout before the kids woke up
Hill Sprint
100 jumping jacks
Stationary Lunges with shoulder presses (15 reps)
Walk out Push ups (8 reps)
Lat Pulls (15 reps)
Frog Leg Crunches- Bicycle Crunches (50,30)

Repeated the sequence 3 times. Even if its something short- its well worth it. Just do something.

The 25's..

Yesterday I went into Harry and David and picked up a package of their coffee samplers. They make all the great flavors, and I'm getting a little bored of mine so its time to sample the goods out there! This morning's taste was Hazelnut Praline. I like my coffee super strong so the hint of sweetness really worked for me. I like this flavor- almost in love- but there are others to try!

This mornings workout was what I call "The 25s". I started off with a little cardio warm up about 10 min..then did one exercise per large muscle group- and 25 reps of each..so
Squat- 25 reps
Push Ups- 25 reps
Dumbell Rows- 25 reps
Shoulder Press- 25 reps
Bicep Curl- 25 reps
Tricep Overhead Extension- 25 reps
Frog Leg Crunches- 50 reps

Use a lighter weight than usual, so that you can finish 25 reps without using momentum.

Did 3 min of high energy cardio after the circuit and continued the circuit 3 times.

Thursday is an off day- no clients-I've set aside so many errands to do today but cant get into the grove of doing them! I think I'll go for a second cup of Joe..