Category Archives: Fitness
#TBT Twelve
In exactly 10 hours, I will be checked out of the office for eleven days while I go chase some dreams. I’m going to be annoyingly vague and just leave it at that because I’ll be blogging about my adventures in real time next week! :)
Moving right along, I’ve got another #throwbackthursday blog post. This one is so appropriate because I’ve been doing Tuesday/Thursday backyard HIIT sessions all summer. This morning started with something pretty similar to this sweaty circruit. Since I’ve been back from my latest medical trip to New York, I’ve been taking it easy on the running & supplementing more core, strength and bicycling exercises. HIIT is a combination of strength and cardio sooo we get twice the protein bites afterwards, right…? ;)
Side tangent before I sign off….I tried a mango for the first time ever last week and I’ve had 3 more since. What have I been missing?! Alllll the fresh fruit is one of the best parts of summer :)
Backyard HIIT Workout
Originally Posted on May 29, 2014
Yesterday morning, my backyard was transformed into an outdoor gym with 6 HIIT stations. We had country music, coffee and water bottles…all before 5am!
After discontinuing the LiveFit Trainer and re-committing to daily running, I set up a workout schedule for the first week of summer vacation that looked like this:
Monday: Cardio Carnival (35 min. run; 15 min. bike; 30 min. walk with incline)
Tuesday: Morning run on treadmill (5 miles); Evening run on treadmill (5 miles)
Wednesday: Morning at-home HIIT workout; Evening jog around park (5 miles)
Thursday: Morning run with Matt (5.5 miles); Evening run on treadmill (5 miles)
Friday: Morning run on treadmill (5 miles); Evening run around the park (5 miles)
Saturday: Strength workout at the gym followed by 7 mile run outside
Sunday: Long Run (8 miles)
Notice a lot of “Run” in that schedule? That’s because running is my FAVORITE activity. I don’t look at it as pure exercise or a chore. My mom said my enjoyment and enthusiasm for going to the gym and working out is “disturbing.” ;)
Yes there is a whole lot of cardio on that workout schedule, but I have tried a strength-dominant routine. It’s not for me. This is how I like it :)
So on to the HIIT sesh!
***HIIT is widely popular right now as many health and fitness enthusiasts have recognized interval training as one of the most effective cardio strategies. If you are unfamiliar, it stands for High Intensity Interval Training. It incorporates short intervals/fast and intense exercises followed by a short rest period, repeated for a pre-determined duration.****
At 4:55am, my parents and I headed into the backyard with some country music and coffee. I wrote out six exercises. Downloaded a HIIT Timer app. Set it to beep after 35-second intervals and 25-second rest periods. We did a light 5 minute warm up jogging across the yard and jump roping.
Circuit –> Move from one exercise to the next. Complete 5 total rounds of each. (30 minutes total)
My favorite station was jumprope and least favorite was mountain climbers. My mom and I modified the “push-ups with a clap” on our knees. We’ll repeat this circuit every Wednesday for 4 weeks before mixing it up.
We were way sweaty by then end. Even in the cool morning air, our shirts were soaked with SUCCESS ;)
This workout is easy to fit in at home or in your backyard. Should take 30 minutes & all you need is a jumprope! (Bonus if you get to watch the sunrise.)
Are you pumped yet? GO HIIT IT!
Trading TV Time for WHAT?!
Good morning! Coming off of Father’s Day weekend and a week vacation from the office, it’s good to be back to routine. And back to morning workouts! Typically I have to take off a minimum of one week from physical activity after each bleomycin treatment, which is almost the hardest part…ha! I’ve reunited with the treadmill and all is right in my world.
Which brings me to my topic of conversation today:
Adding in nighttime “Group Fitness” classes this week instead of lounging on the couch.
Long-time readers know that I’m not naturally inclined to make time for yoga and meditation. Child’s pose makes me giggle. Vinyasa makes me antsy. Not wearing shoes freaks me out.
But every 10 months or so, I decide to give it a try again because I know the incredible benefits that yoga practice can have on the body and overall fitness.
Being “fit” encompasses a well-rounded mastery of elements including strength, speed, stamina, and flexibility. Beyond that, overal “health” involves mental and emotional health, physical fitness, and nutritional balance. Even top-tier athletes have some element of total fitness that they struggle with. For me, running and endurance exercises come easily. Speed has always been a little more challenging. I’d rather run 10 easy-paced miles than 1 fast one. But in order to be well-rounded, we have to get way out of that comfort zone and work on those areas need a little extra attention.
During my senior year, I grew out of the habit of watching TV at night, and honestly there’s nothing particularly interesting on during these summer months anyways. (Except I am curious to watch ‘The Astronaut Wives Club’ for the outfits and updos alone!) This week, I am swapping reality TV for group fitness classes at my LA Fitness.
- Monday: Yoga
- Tuesday: BodyWorks Plus Abs
- Wednesday: Mat Pilates
- Thursday: Yoga
- Friday: hahaha just kidding, I’m not doing yoga on a Friday night.
This four-nights-a-week schedule definitely won’t become my “usual”, but I thought this would be a good sampler week to find which classes and teachers I like. I’m trying these classes in addition to my regular running and HIIT routine during the week. A little extra stretching and strength work can’t hurt. My only dilemma is…. when/what to eat for dinners…the classes are from 8pm-9pm, and I don’t want to eat a full meal before-hand. Anyone else have suggestions for fueling late-night workouts?
Sunday was the longest day of the year and the first Sunday of the summer without my normal LONG RUN. But I guess that’s the theme of the week: break out of the normal. :)
Questions of the Day: Are you a group fitness person? Which classes are the best/worst?
When I first joined the gym in high school, I didn’t know what exactly an Aqua-Aerobics class entailed. About 8-10 elderly people with swim caps greeted a 16-year-old me in a neon bikini. We lightly bounced around the shallow end for 45 minutes. I’ve never returned.
XOXO NAMASTE ;)
(Not such a) City Girl
As I mentioned in Monday’s post, I’ve been Manhattan for the past few days. My mom and I are here for my surgery which was on Monday, but we had plenty of fun over the weekend! We’ve spent so many weekends here that I feel like I’ve seen all of the major sites to see, and at this point there are only a couple places in the city that I really look forward to visiting. Central Park will always be my favorite spot in the city (Riverside Park and Bryant Park are a close second. Coincidence that all of my preferred spots are the ones that are the least city-like? I think not ;)
On Sunday morning, we walked to the Jackie Onasis Resevoir in the park to get in a 90 minute workout. It was sunny and hundreds (probably thousands) of other New Yorkers were running around the paths. Where else will you see SO MANY recreational runners in one spot?! By the time I got through about 10 miles, a layer of salt was left on my arms and neck from sweating so we booked it back to our apartment to shower and get ready for a late brunch next to the park.
I’ve been wanting to try out Sarahbeth’s several times but we always run out of time or find somewhere equally appealing to go instead. Finally we planned a girl’s day and I had a brunch date with my beautiful mama!
Inside the restaurant was bright and energized. We split a peach bellini while deciding on which two brunch entrees we would share. We ended up getting one sweet and one savory, since it’s all about the balance ;) Lemon Ricotta Pancakes with Blackberries and a Garden Egg White Omelette.
The garden omelette came with a scone and homemade jam, and I honestly just could have eaten the jam with a spoon. Strawberry Raspberry, so so good. After brunch, we walked through the crazy crowds (apparently it was Puerto Rico day and a parade was expected see 2 million people waving their Puerto Rican flags with pride.) Finally we got to an equally-crowded Times Square to do some shopping. My mom and I each got a couple new workout outfits which always make exercising more fun :)
Monday morning I checked in the hospital bright and early, and the bleomycin sclerotherapy treatment went smoothly. I am always nauseuas after anesthesia and the breathing tube always gives me a sore throat for a few days but that’s why these next two days are all about taking it easy and lounging. My mom and I have been watching episodes of the old ABC show ‘Brothers & Sisters’ which is completely addicting. Whenever I watch movies or shows with big loud crazy families, I always get a little jealous.
As glamorous as NYC looks on TV, I miss home. Where sidewalks don’t reek of urine and car horns are not the soundtrack of our nightly walks.
Well, I just wanted to put up a little recap of our trip here to keep up with my medical journey blog posts. Later this week I’ll be back with another healthy recipe.
XOX Kenz
