Showing posts with label Workouts. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Workouts. Show all posts

Wednesday, February 28, 2018

5 Heart-Pumping Workouts You'll Want to Try Now

American Heart Month has nearly come to an end, but we all know that taking care of our hearts goes beyond just the month of February. After all, heart disease is the leading cause of death for both men and women. While we can't control all the risk factors that may lead to heart disease, being active and eating healthy can help reduce the them.

The American Heart Association recommends getting in 40 minutes of moderate to vigorous exercise 3-4 times a week.

Such activity helps reduce your risk of heart disease by:

  • Preventing and managing high blood pressure
  • Improving blood circulation
  • Boosting your levels of good cholesterol
  • Helping to manage stress levels

You don't need to pay for a fancy gym membership to get in a good workout!

I've rounded up 5 heart-pumping workouts that you can do right in the comfort of your own home!

5 Heart-Pumping Workouts


Sunday, November 27, 2016

Week in Review 11/27

Hope you all survived Thanksgiving and are getting in the holiday spirit!

I started the #RWRunStreak on Thanksgiving as well as a new Nike+ training program. To help hold myself accountable, I thought it would be a good idea to do a Week in Review post each Sunday.

Week in Review - 11/27/16
I'm mostly focused on running right now, but this frog doing yoga was just too cute!

Tuesday, April 14, 2015

Favorite Quick Workout

No fault but my own, I know, but I've missed the past couple of weeks posting with The Fit Dish link-up.

No excuses this week.

Favorite QUICK WORKOUT

But, I'm still going to kind of cheat on this one. I just looked up the topic last night, and don't have a lot of time to come up with something new.

So, here are two quick workouts that I love.

One, I just shared on Friday, but it's my current go-to workout to get my heart-pumping in the morning. I call it my Morning Wakeup.

Morning Wakeup routine - Jumping Jacks, Squats, Jumping Jacks, Incline Push Ups, Jumping Jacks, Sit ups
Click to go to original post.

I'd suggest a minimum of 10 reps for each exercise. I'm currently doing 25.

Two, I originally shared this back in August. It's a little morning yoga routine you can do without even leaving your bed.

Morning Yoga
Click to go to original post.

It only takes a few minutes, but feels so good! I need to do it more often. :)

What's your favorite quick workout? Be sure to check out our hosts Jill Conyers at JillConyers.com and Jessica Joy at TheFitSwitch.org to see what everyone else's favorite quick workouts are. I bet there will be some really fun ones!

Wednesday, August 27, 2014

Wednesday's Workout: Speed Work

It's been a LONG time since I wrote a quick post just describing my workout. :)

My training schedule had 4 miles of speed work on it today.

Yesterday, was a tough day at work. Stressful. Crazy. And I ended up working more than an hour late. I was in a bad mood leaving work, and didn't feel like doing anything when I got home.

Including eating.

So, dinner consisted of a chocolate candy bar and a banana. Bad, bad, bad!! Yet another manifestation of a lesson I still haven't learned.

I was really nervous about the speed work run, but it actually turned out much better than expected. I ate a Vanilla Bean GU and half a banana before I headed out.

And laced up my speedy shoes - the Mizuno Wave Sayonaras.

Speed Work Mizuno Wave Sayonara


I did about 12 minutes at a pretty easy pace. My calves are still pretty tight for some reason.

And then I did 1:1 intervals of a fast pace and an easy pace. I walked the 5th and 10th easy pace interval, for a little breather, and then an easy pace to finish it all out.

Miles: 4.15
Duration: 43:36
Avg Min/Mi: 10:30

Turns out that's just about my ideal marathon pace for this training cycle. Whoo hoo!!

Did you run this morning?
What's your favorite way to incorporate speed work?

Sunday, August 24, 2014

What's for Dinner? Week of 8/24

1,000 apologies for not posting a workout recap and weekly menu plan last weekend. We were extending my birthday celebrations a week, and hanging out at the pool - and I didn't get something scheduled ahead of time. Bad blogger.

Blu Pool at Bally's Las Vegas
View from our pool cabana

We bought a Groupon for the pool cabana, and had a great time hanging out all day in the shade of the cabana and the cool water of the pool.

Last Saturday, I finalized my marathon training plan, so last week was my first official week of training for RnRVegas.


Wednesday, August 20, 2014

9 Yoga Poses to Start Your Day

Good morning! Well, afternoon now. Grrr.

I was recently contacted by the folks at Casper to write a post about yoga poses you can do right from your bed. For more information about their amazing mattress, click here. I did not receive any compensation or product in exchange for this post. I just really loved the idea of yoga in my bed. :)

Lately, I've been waking up with tight muscles and a sore back. Must be all that running and training I've been doing. :-)

I want to start doing more yoga in the morning, but I always seem to run out of time.

So, I'm going to try out this yoga sequence. In. My. Bed. Before even crawling out of it in the morning. :)

Morning Yoga Sequence (before getting out of bed)

Saturday, June 21, 2014

What's for Dinner? Week of 6/22

It's been a fun weekend! I took the redeye Friday morning back home to Minnesota. I like to think I brought some sunshine with me because it's been gorgeous here this weekend! And it had been pretty rainy the previous few weeks, I guess.  The humidity did stick around through, which gives the heat that ew gross kinda feeling, which I do not miss at all. Currently it's 70% humidity here in MN and only 9% in Vegas. Oh, how I love the dry heat of Vegas!

Last week's workouts? Jeff and I did start training for our half marathon last week {more on that later}, so I did get in a few good runs. Plus, I'm doing good on my LBD challenge. The yoga challenge this month does have quite a few poses that are a bit too advanced for me, so I've skipped a few days. Overall, I'm very pleased with my workouts last week!

Sunday, February 16, 2014

What's for Dinner? Week of 2/16

Happy Sunday!! I hope everyone had a lovely Valentine's Day weekend, and those of you who have tomorrow off for President's Day, I'm super jealous enjoy your long weekend.

I got hit with a nasty cold around Thursday, and it's continually getting a bit worse as the weekend has progressed. Let's just say that's why my workouts really petered off towards the end of the week. I'm sure it wasn't laziness at all.

Friday, February 14, 2014

Happy Valentine's Day!


Valentine's Day + Friday = AWESOME

Well, except that I am getting sick. Sucking on a cough drop right now to soothe my scratchy throat. :-( Booo.

We don't really have any plans tonight. Just gonna make dinner and have a nice low key evening. Maybe watch a movie. We're all kinds of crazy, I know.

Sunday, February 9, 2014

What's for Dinner? Week of 2/9

Thanks to everyone who suggested I keep track of my workouts old school - with pen and paper. Brilliant! I picked up a cute little calendar last Sunday, and it worked pretty well.


I still hope to log my workouts in DailyMile, but now if I don't have time to turn on the computer after my workout, I can still jot down a couple notes in my calendar and update DailyMile later

Monday - 3 mile run. Time - 27:03; Pace - 9:03.  This was Day 1 of my new training schedule. Just took it easy and enjoyed the run. I'd intended on hitting the treadmill, but I couldn't get into the workout room. :( I had to come back to my apartment and add some additional layers to run outside.

Arms - 15 dips; 15 countertop push-ups; 15 overhead presses (no weights).  I forgot about doing an arm workout until I was about to jump in the shower, so I did just a couple super quick reps right there in the bathroom.

Tuesday - StrongStride DVD. Program 1.

Wednesday - #5bythe5th 5k. Read more about it in this post.

Thursday - 15 minute partner stretch yoga. 2.5 hours shopping. I skipped yoga in the morning in favor of doing yoga with Jeff after work. Unfortunately, I also decided to go shopping for some Red for National Wear Red Day after work, so by time I got home from my little shopping trip, we only had time for 15 min of yoga.

Friday - 3+ hours walking the Strip. I was supposed to do StrongStride this morning, but blogged instead - Red Wear Selfies for National Wear Red Day. My evening didn't go as planned, but we finally met up with my friend around 9-9:30 and walked a LOT through several of the casinos. I did not wear appropriate walking shoes, so I was in a lot of pain by the time we got home.

Saturday - REST. We did drive to Primm, NV, in the afternoon for our first attempt at kite flying. {post coming soon} It wasn't really windy enough, so there was a bit of walking/running involved. More for Jeff than for me.

Sunday - 4 miles. Yoga. Since I didn't get in my run yesterday, I'll be heading out this morning. Just after I publish this post. Jeff and I will do some yoga together this afternoon. Yay!

So, that's how the week went. Could have been better, but definitely nothing to complain about.

Now, let's check out what I'm hoping to eat this coming week.

menu planning

I finally remembered to order Bountiful Baskets for pickup yesterday. It was getting ridiculous. Our fridge was so bare, and I needed some fresh produce. We got lots of yummy stuff yesterday, and I'm excited to try it out for dinner this week.

Sunday - Baked penne with leeks and cheese



Monday - Leftovers

Tuesday - Zucchini burgers



Wednesday - Penne with asparagus. I'm not a fan of asparagus at all, but we got two bunches in our Bountiful Basket. Jeff loves asparagus, so I'm hoping this recipe with be tasty for both of us.



Thursday - Leftovers

Friday - Slow Cooker Lasagna. I didn't get around to making this last week, so I thought it would be perfect for Valentine's Day! We're going to have a date night at home. I'm hoping to make a couple sides with this, too. Asparagus for Jeff; Zucchini for me.

Saturday - TBD

I'm linking up with Laura over at Mommy Run Fast and Jill at Fitness, Health, & Happiness. Go check out what everyone else is cooking up this week.

Sunday, February 2, 2014

What's for Dinner? Week of 2/2

Did you notice that I didn't include my weekly workout recap in my Friday post? It had a good run in January, but I've decided to move the workout recaps to Sundays. Just makes more sense to me. :)

Last week wasn't the greatest, and I've definitely got to get my act together this week!

Sunday - A little yoga.
Monday - 20 sun salutations. 1.91 mile run. 2 moon salutations.
Tuesday - 28 sun salutations.
Wednesday - 2 mile run.
Thursday - I wanna say I did some sun salutations in the morning, but I'm having trouble remember back that far.
Friday - REST
Saturday - REST

My Sun & Moon Salutations challenge didn't go quite a well as I'd hoped. I really started slacking on it as the reps got into the double digits. Not sure why I have so much difficulty sticking to month-long challenges.

Also wanted to give a huge THANK YOU to everyone who attempted even a couple days of the challenge with me. If you took the challenge, I hope you enjoyed it and got some benefit from it.

a Rafflecopter giveaway
I've got to figure out a way to track my workouts better, so when Sundays roll around, I can remember what I did that week! I used to used DailyMile pretty avidly, but haven't been lately. Maybe I need to get back to that.

As I mentioned on Friday, tomorrow starts the beginning of a new training cycle. I really, really want to be diligent with this, so I've got to make the commitment to workout 1st thing in the morning. I've got some pretty big blogging goals this year, but working out is probably more important.  I'm going to try to keep up with both, but blogging might have to give a little.

That said, I've got a lot of great ideas for blogging in February, so hopefully I'll be able to manage both. :)

menu planning

Since I'm starting my new training cycle tomorrow AND it's the first week of the month, which means work will be crazier than usual, I'm keeping this week's menu super simple!

Sunday - Beans and rice. I may experiment trying to make this in the slow cooker.

Monday - Out for dinner. An old friend is in town for a convention, and I'm super excited to meet up with her. Let's just say it's been MANY years.

Here's a picture of the two of us back in 1989.


Tuesday - Leftovers

Wednesday - Slow Cooker Lasagna. This recipe comes from Katie at From Ice Cream to Marathon. I tried it earlier this year, and it was delicious. I might tweak it to make it vegetarian this time around and maybe add in a little squash that needs to be used.

Thursday - Leftovers

Friday - Leftovers

Saturday - TBD

I'm linking up with Laura over at Mommy Run Fast and Jill at Fitness, Health, & Happiness. Go check out what everyone else is cooking up this week.

Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Happy Hill-O-Ween!!

If you've been following along on my Marathon Mondays posts, you probably know that hills are not my friends. And while they've been a part of my training schedule almost from the beginning, in reality they have not been a part of my training much at all.

Sometimes, we all need a little extra motivation to conquer those hills!

So from me to you ...

Happy Hill-O-Ween!!



How do you stay motivated to incorporate hills into your training?


Other ways to follow Enjoying the Course:
Twitter → @EnjoytheCourse
Instagram → enjoyingthecourse
Facebook → EnjoyingtheCourse
Google+ → Enjoying the Course
Pinterest → clarindad

Thursday, September 12, 2013

Pin It Party!

Ugh. It's been one of those crappy weeks. Second in a row, actually. I've been staying up too late. Not eating great. Not exercising. Sleeping in, but waking with a headache.

Overall feeling pretty lazy. And crabby.

And not very motivated to post to my blog, but when I saw Lindsay, from the Lean Green Bean, was hosting a Pin It Party, I simply couldn't resist.

What's a Pin It Party? Simple. I'm going to share 5 posts with you right here that I think would be perfect to share on Pinterest. You can pin the ones you like, and then head on over to The Pin It Party 3 and check out what everyone else is pinning as well.

Happy pinning!!

Last Sept I designed a 3-day workout. Day one focuses on Arms, then abs, then legs on day 3. If you try it, let me know what you think!

workout, arms, abs, legs


What's the difference between being Healthy and being Non-Sick?

healthy living


Now that school is back in full swing (well, not for me), here are a few tips for staying healthy while in college - though most could also be applied to outside of college as well. :)

healthy living, student, college


A quick look at how I like to end my runs.

stretching, post-run, running


And lastly, here's a little motivational pic I created + some tips for beginning runners.

running, fun, motivation

That was fun!

Happy Thursday, everyone!!!


Other ways to follow Enjoying the Course:
Twitter → @EnjoytheCourse
Facebook → EnjoyingtheCourse
Instagram → enjoyingthecourse
Pinterest → clarindad

Monday, June 3, 2013

Summertime Tri's & Thighs

Summer is here! At least it sure feels like summer here in Vegas. With highs over 100°F, I am definitely feeling the heat.

And summer heat means tank tops/shorts and swimsuits.

Which means...

Time to focus on strengthening and toning our Triceps and Thighs, so I created a little workout to help us out.


I hate finding a new workout online, only to discover that I don't know what some of the exercises are, so let's walk through these together.


Seated Leg Raises {targets quads} - Sit on the floor with legs extended in front of you and feet flexed. Lift one leg as high as you comfortably can while keeping your foot flexed. Lower to floor without touching and repeat for 20 reps, then switch to your other leg.



Side-Lying Leg Lifts {targets inner thighs} - Lie on your side with bottom leg extended and top leg crossed over top. Rest either your knee or foot on the floor. Prop your head up with your hand or rest it on your arm. As you exhale, lift your leg, and inhale as you lower it - keeping your torso still throughout the exercise. Repeat for 10 reps, then switch to your other side.



Side Arm Push-ups {targets biceps, triceps, obliques, hips} - Lie on your side with opposite hand palm down in front of your shoulder. Wrap your other arm around your rib cage and bend knees slightly. Exhale and push yourself up until your arm is straight. Inhale while lowering yourself back to about 1 inch from the floor. Repeat for 10 reps, then switch to your other side.



Single Leg Circles {targets core, thighs} - Lie on your back with arms by your side and palms facing down. Point your toes and raise one leg toward the ceiling. Inhale and trace a circle on the ceiling, moving your whole leg, but keeping your hips still and planted on the floor. Draw 10 circles and switch directions. Repeat with your other leg.

No real good reason for no picture for this one.
I guess I figured a still photo wouldn't do it justice.


Scissor Kicks {targets inner thighs} - Lie on your back with arms by your side and legs extended. Lift legs to about 45°. Quickly open and close your legs, crossing right over left and then left over right. Repeat until each leg has crossed over the other 15 times.



Diamond Push-ups {targets triceps} - Start in the plank position with your feet about shoulder-width apart (drop to your knees, if necessary). Place your hands under your sternum with your thumbs and forefingers touching to form a diamond. Inhale and bend your elbows out to the sides, lowering your chest to the floor. Exhale to straighten your arms. Repeat for 10 push-ups.



4-Limbed Staff {targets triceps} - Start in plank position with your hands under your shoulders and your arms close to your body. Exhale and lower yourself down toward the floor. Keep your body parallel to the ground and your shoulder parallel to your elbows. Hold for 5 breaths.

Obviously, this one is my weakest link. My form is terrible because I do not yet have the strength for this pose.

I can't wait to add this workout to my summertime routine. Here's to strong, beautiful arms, and sexy, toned thighs!

If you give it a try, I'd love to know what you think. {even if you don't try it out, I'd love to hear your thoughts!}


Disclaimer: I am not a personal trainer or health professional. Please consult your doctor before starting any new exercise program.

Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Workout Wednesday

Normally, Wednesdays are my sleep-in days. And by sleep in, I mean still get up at 5am to feed Sallie and then go back to sleep until 6:30am.

Since I took a rest week last week, and then slept in Monday, and have the potential of sleeping in tomorrow, I decided that TODAY, I would still get up at 5 to get in a workout.

I started out with this humdigger, because the 45 pushups from yesterday didn't kill my shoulders enough.


Seriously, though, it was a great quick workout. I think it took me 8:25, and I. am. SLOW. about these strength types of workouts.

Since I was feeling a bit gluttonous, I decided to head to the tiny fitness center at my apartment complex to hit up the elliptical.

Back in the day, when I couldn't run (stupid shins!), I tried to learn to love the elliptical.

Years later, after my shins decided to love me again, and I've really embraced running, THE ELLIPTICAL STILL PROVES TO HATE ME! I spent 20 minutes on that devil yesterday....at a 25 min/mile pace. At the end of the 20 minutes, my toes were numb and I was sweating like a mother. I'll take it, but I figured I must be doing something wrong to make my toes/feet hurt so much from this machine.

So, I asked my friends on DailyMile what they thought. I got some great advice from a husband/wife team (Thanks, Donald and Irina!), which I'll bascially boil down to keep your feet planted, hips lower than what feels normal, and try not to be too bouncy.

I can tell that yesterday I didn't keep my feet planted because my calves are in a state of revolt today.

I tried to keep their advice in mind this morning, but my experience was pretty much the same. Ok. Ever so slightly faster, but still very slow.

Leaving the gym super sweaty, I'm still counting it a win!!

The question is ... should I continue to try to conquer the elliptical or just stick to running and biking?

How was your workout today?

Friday, September 21, 2012

Fitness Friday - A New Workout

As you probably know, I'm starting my new job on Monday, so I thought, "Hey, why not start a new workout, too?"

I've seen a ton of these going around, but I couldn't find one where a) I knew what all the exercises were and b) I could do all the exercises with ease while still being challenged.

Enjoying the Course: 3-Day Workout - Arms, Abs, Legs

In case you're unfamiliar with any of these exercises, I'll explain how to do the ones that aren't self-explanatory at least to me.

DAY ONE
Chest Press Pulses - Kneel on both knees. Bend your arms and raise to shoulder height. Clasp your hands and keep elbows together. Pulse up.

Triceps Dips in Reverse Plank - Start in reverse plank position (on your palms fingers pointing forward and heels, butt up off the ground). Bend your elbows until your bum hits the floor.

DB Palms-up Wrist Curls - Sit on a chair or bench. Grasp dumbbell underhanded. Rest forearm on your thigh, with your wrist just beyond your knee. Let wrist drop and then curl up. Do all reps on one arm, then switch arms.

DB Zottman Curls - Stand with feet shoulder width apart. Grasp a dumbbell in each hand with palms facing forward. Curl arms up until dumbbells are at shoulder height. Pause for a second. Rotate arms until palms are facing out and slowly bring arms down.

DAY TWO
Frog Sit-ups - Lie flat on your back with knees bent and soles of feet touching. Cross arms over chest and curl torso up. Pause for a second. Return to starting position.

Russian Twists - Sit with hands clasped, knees bent, and heels off the ground. Twist from side to side, touching your hands to the ground on each side. You could also try this holding a dumbbell.

V-ups - Lie on one side with legs together and slightly forward. Place your bottom arm on the floor and your other hand behind your head. Crunch up in a V, getting up on your hip and butt. Keep your legs straight. Do all reps and switch sides.

Bicycle - Lie on your back with your hands lightly behind your head and knees bent in a 90-degree angle. Bring right elbow to left knee while straightening right leg. Switch sides, bringing left elbow to right knee. Continue alternating sides in pedaling motion.

DAY THREE
Standing Calf Raises - Stand with feet hip width apart and a dumbbell in each hand. Raise your heels off the ground until you're on the balls of your feet. Pause for a second. Slowly return to starting position.

Glute Kickbacks - Start on your hands and knees, hands shoulder width apart. Lift right leg until upper leg is parallel to the floor. Keep leg bent. Do all reps one leg, then switch legs.

Leg Lifts - Lie on your back with legs extended. With foot in a neutral position, lift one leg until it is perpendicular to the floor. Repeat all reps on one leg, then switch sides. To target your inner and outer thighs, add reps pointing your toes away from you (inner thigh) or toward you (outer thigh).

I'm excited to try this out. I can make no claims to its efficacy, as I'm not a personal trainer or any kind of expert. I just wanted a quick reference for some exercises that I thought I'd actually do. :-)

What do you think? Does this look like a good workout?


Click the picture below to see who else is celebrating Fitness today.