Top 3 Core Blasters

She’s Baaaaaaack! :D

Guess who finally had a great workout today?

[insert toothy grin here]

All it took was simply telling myself this:

‘I decided I’m going to go have a kick-ass workout on the treadmill today!’

And something kind of clicked inside me. All I had to do was change how I perceived the situation.

Ok, ok, I also pulled out all the stops to get myself motivated:

On the TV…my fav fashion duo:

Both race medals. I told myself, this isn’t even CLOSE to the effort you exerted for the races!Suck it up! lol

Within view was my 10 miler race bib for motivation…

IShuffle fully charged and ready to go should I need it. Also had Amazing Grass (wheatgrass + water) for added mojo:

Runner’s World. It was really just there for show since I have already read it cover to cover.

Pre-workout fuel: A S’moore Glo Bar

This spider has been tormenting me all week! He hovers right above my head on the ceiling above me. GAH!!!!! I know he is going to just ‘free-fall’ and land on me one of these days! Knowing me, I would probably freak out and fall off!

I also used a new treadmill trick today.

I typically always go by the clock on the treadmill to judge when I can take mini breaks, right? Well, watching the clock can get really boring!

So today I simply focused on the visual laps on the screen. I told myself I could take a quick break after every 4 laps on the treadmill (roughly 1 mile). This visual trick helped keep my mind off the timer! I also broke up the 4 laps into individual or half-way markers. So for example, on lap two I would tell myself, only two more laps until I can take a quick break. Or just one more lap to go. So simple, yet very effective for me today.

The workout:

• Duration: 1 hour 5 minutes + core work
• Hill workout: Speed 4.1 mph, incline 15%
• Core work: See Jodie’s moves below!
• Max heart rate: 170 bpm
• Avg heart rate: 157 bpm
• Distance: 4.25 miles

I totally felt like I was my old self today. It was a good feeling not to have to ‘pull teeth’ to get myself to workout! My body also felt well-rested which is always a wonderful feeling. I think it was a good thing that I gave it proper rest days following the race last week. It can be hard to discern what is actual fatigue (mental/physical or both) and what is just the blahs! Either way, I have learned that sometimes some extra time off or reduced intensity can be a good thing regardless of the reason why.

We have a special fitness guest post tonight by Jodie who is a Personal Trainer/ Pilates Instructor! She is showing us her 3 favourite core moves.

Of course, being a core move freak myself, I was just delighted to feature some new ways to change it up!

1. Balancing Star Plank
Get into the side plank position. So if you start on your left side, your right arm should be extended to the ceiling, now here is the twist, instead of raising your right leg, you will keep the right leg firmly planted on the floor and swing your left leg forward. Hold for 3 seconds and repeat on the other side. 3 reps each side.

2. The Bird Dog Plank
Start in the plank position, feet hip width apart. Your head and spine should be in a straight line, while you raise your right arm out in front of you, and your left leg a few inches off the floor. Hold for 3-5 seconds, keeping body level and stable. Repeat on the opposite side. 8 reps each side.

3. Reverse plank with Leg Pull Up (this is a classic Pilates exercise).
It’s imperative to keep your wrists under shoulders, and the hips should be lifted as high as possible and should remain steady.
Inhale and kick left leg towards the ceiling twice. Exhale lower the leg and repeat on the other side. Do 6 reps on each leg.

Thanks Jodie! I did these core moves in between my treadmill workout today and they are really effective and a great way to mix up the moves I have been doing. :)

~~~~~

I’m off to bake an order and then cook dinner.

Tonight’s question:

Can you think of any names (1 word only) that might be good for a S’moore Glo bar?

Some ideas myself and other Tweeters have come up with so far:

Fire, campfire, crave, dangerous (let me know if I’m forgetting anything…)

Ideas??

Have a good one!

I must apologize for my quotes of the day being MIA lately…too many things on the go! ;)

The fact is, that to do anything in the world worth doing, we must not stand back shivering and thinking of the cold and danger, but jump in and scramble through as well as we can.
Robert Cushing