Day 4 of the 100 Pushup Challenge

I'm supposed to skip a day between the pushup training, but I had skipped a few before yesterday's session and honestly, I don't feel terribly sore today, so I'm going to forge ahead!

These next few days will be pretty insane, with work and rehearsals for my one-woman show, A Woman in Progress, plus a whole batch of delicious Christmas gifts to make for Joe's family... Decadent, dark homemade truffles are on the menu... MUST. NOT. CONSUME. ALL. THE. TRUFFLES.

On Christmas Eve, we'll be visiting with Joe's family in Jersey (his parents and sister are coming from Indiana- this will be a huge gathering!) and then I'm taking the 9:50 train from New Brunswick to Penn Station, followed by the 11:50p train to Albany, so I should arrive at my dad's by 3:30a or so on Christmas AM, where I'll relish 4.5 hrs of sleep before the traditional Christmas Breakfast at my dad's, a stop at my grandma and aunt's house, and then back to my mom's for the rest of the day. OY. What sort of holiday craziness do you have planned?

Today's Quickie Sweat Session:

Pushup Challenge (14, 14,  10, 10) 

80 jumprope turns

10 tucking jump  squats

20 split squats (alternating)
20 squatting calf raises
20 sumo squats

Plus 2 hrs of teaching dance, followed by a 3 hr rehearsal...

I miss the gym! :(

Happy Sweating!

Christmas Self-Sabotage.... Ughhh...

I love making homemade goodies as gifts for friends and co-workers. They're inexpensive and made with love. BUT I am physically incapable of refraining from tasting. Often. For each batch. Ugh... Yesterday and today I've been making, cutting and wrapping homemade fudge for my co-workers at PS 209.... I've also done a fair amount of sampling, and my tummy is not happy. PLUS it's been a relatively inactive week because of the obnoxious mystery illness I can't seem to shake... I'm determined to not be in too terrible of shape after Christmas- the first week of January marks the beginning of my competition prep for the Natural Muscle Can/Am Bikini Competition on March 26th!

Today:
Day 3 of the 100 Pushup Program (11, 15, 9, 9)
60 jumprope turns
60 kb swings (20 each 8, 10 and 12k bells)
20 single legged deadlifts (10/leg w/ 12k kb)
30 cross punch (15/ arm w/ 5lb dumbell in each hand)
30 upper cut (15/ arm w/ 5lb dumbell in each hand)
60 jumping jacks
10 exercise ball pike ups
20 tricep kickbacks (10/arm with 10/lb dumbell)
15 bridge extensions on exercise ball
15 hip bridges
10 frog raises on an exercise ball (I'll have to post a picture- it's my own special hell that I made up and hate/love)


And hopefully some more cardio at some point today...

96 days until my first bikini competition! AGGHHH! So excited!

Happy Sweating!

Day 2 of 100 Pushup Challenge

Pushup Program
10
12
8
8

30 seconds high knees
20 split squats
20 reverse lunge/ 1 arm press w 10lbs in each hand (10 reps/ arm)
20 prisoner squats
5 explosive pushups (my upper body strength SUCKS)
20 reverse lunge/ 1 arm press w 10lbs in each hand (10 reps/ arm)
60 rotations jumprope
10 goblet squats w. 12k kb

And 3.25 miles on the TM- SO PRESSED FOR TIME! OY!

Day 1 of the 100 Pushup Program!

Set 1- 10
Set 2- 12
Set 3- 7
Set 3- 7

40 Shadow Boxers w/ 3lb weights in each hand (20/arm)
40 Upper Cuts w/ 5lb weights in each hand (20/ arm)
60 jumping jacks
20 split squats
10 jump squats
20 bent leg windshield wipers
50 ankle wiggles
10 tricep kickbacks w/ 10lbs/hand
10 shoulder press w/ 10 lbs/hand

And then I ran out of time! AGHHH!!!

Happy Sweating!

Abs and Randomness

10 bear crawls w/ pushup
20 pushups (to test my level for the 100 Push Up Program I'm starting tomorrow!)
20 bird dog (10x side)
20 stability ball crunches
20 extended arm side planks (10x side)
20 turned out calf raises
20 calf raises in parallel (dancer, much?)
10 reverse crunches
60 double armed kb swings (20x weight, 8k, 10k, 12k)
16 jump squats
20 hip bridge extensions on stability ball
20 kneeling back kicks (10x leg)
20 split squats
60 jumping jacks

Anddddd...

60 mins (8.5 miles) on the elliptical. I left my running shoes at home when I ran out the door to teach- the shoes I was wearing were OK for the elliptical, but would have been a big no go for running...


Happy Sweating!

Long Days... Squeezing in Some Sweat Time

1:30 Jumping Jacks
20 kb overhead presses w 10k bell (10x arm)
1:30 High Knees
20 kb lunge & press w/ 8k bell (10x side)
1:30 double handed swing w 12k bell
16 russian twists w/ 12k bell (per side)
20 single leg plank raise (10x leg, alternating)
20 windmills w/ 10k bell (10x side)
20 split squats
50 ankle wiggles (What's an ankle wiggle?)
20 single leg deadlifts with 12k bell (10x side)

^ Not stellar. I'm feeling pretty crappy- I'm pretty sure I have the beginnings of an ear infection... UGH.

I was out and about today running errands for my upcoming show in/ around Times Sq. (UGH), but I had a really delicious, quick and light lunch at Baja Fresh on Broadway- a Grilled Mahi Mahi Taco LOADED with pico! Yummmmmm.

Yummytown Muffins (aka Low Cal Banana Pumpkin Bran Muffins)

I love to bake. I love to eat baked goods. I do not love what eating baked goods does to my body, so I usually give most of what I bake away, or try to come up with more nutritious substitutions... I'm a very creative baker, which is a nice way of saying that I never follow recipes exactly (partly out of laziness, and partly out of an unfounded belief that my ideas will make the goodies taste better or be healthier than the recipe's author had intended). This makes the fiance upset, as he's very much a by-the-book type baker. Sometimes it comes out awful, but it usually works out pretty well...

I adapted the recipe below from this recipe for Low Cal Apple Bran Muffins. I had ambitions of adding ground flax seeds and protein powder, but got distracted...

Yummytown Muffins

(aka Low Cal Banana Pumpkin Bran Muffins)

1 1/4 cups flour (whole wheat, multi-purpose, enriched, whatever you've got, really...)
1 cup wheat bran (the original recipe said oat bran. but I had wheat bran, so wheat bran it was!)
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup 2% milk
6 tablespoons egg whites
2 tablespoons canola oil (or regular vegetable oil)
2 overripe bananas that would make me gag if I ate them straight (I HATE overripe bananas)
1/2 cup (appx) pumpkin puree (that was hanging out in my fridge with nothing better to do)

Mix it. 

Pour it (into cupcake tray). 

Bake it. 18-20 mins at 375 F. 

Love it.

Today, Yesterday and the Day Before...

Time has been crunched, and I've been a bit under the weather, so I've kept it short and sweet with my at home workouts. Lately, I'm particularly partial to Men's Health's The Power of 10 Jumpstart  Your Day Workout, and I use this free Online Tabata Timer to time my circuits.

So here goes:

Tuesday:

Men's Health Power of 10 Jumpstart Your Day Workout using Beach Fitness Tabata Timer (2x circuit)
Men's Health 15 Minute Abs Workout
* Both of these workouts require NO EQUIPMENT!!!! (With the exception of a step, but I usually just sub an exercise there, like jump rope or jumping jacks)

Wednesday:

Men's Health Power of 10 Jumpstart Your Day Workout (1x circuit)
* I tried to get Joe (the fiance) to work out with me... BAD idea. He was great for the first few exercises, but then started acting silly, and we both ended up laughing so hard that continuing to exercise was impossible. Lesson learned- working out with Joe is fun, but I don't get much done.

Today:

• KB Double Handed Swings, 12, 10 and 8 k bells, 15 each weight
• KB Snatches, 12, 10 and 8k bells, 10x arm x weight
• KB Suitcase Deadlifts, 12, 10 and 8k bells, 10 x arm x weight
• KB Sumo Squats, 12, 10 and 8k bells, 10 x weight
• 4.25 mile run on TM incorporating some HIIT- 30 seconds at 5.5, 30 seconds at 9.0, alternating... included some super high incline power walking, jogging, steady running... I should probably start paying attention, eh? 45 mins including warmup and cooldown...

Happy Sweating!

:)

Today So Far...

Kettlebells at Home:

25 kb swings with 12k
20 kb snatches w 10k (10/arm)
50 jump rope
20 dead clean/press (10/arm)
20 squat w/ 10k kb in rack (10/arm)
50 jump rope
20 swing/cleans w/ 12k kb (10/arm)
50 jump rope
10 kb pushup w/ row w/ 10k kb (5/arm)
40 russian twists w/ 12k kb
25 kb swings with 12k kb

And then 3 miles on the treadmill for good measure! My left hip flexor is a bit sore and has been bothering me recently, but other than that, I feel great!

Competition Suit PURCHASED!

I'm so excited! I got an AMAZING price on this suit from StarwearUSA! I can't wait for it to arrive! :)