Quitting the Gym

So I’ve made a decision. I’ve decided to put my gym membership on hold for now.

The reason being is that I am only able to get there once, maybe twice a week. Since I’ve had Gabriella I’ve really picked up the amount of running that I’m doing because I can take her with me! She can’t go to the gym with me, but I can take her in the stroller for runs. She LOVES her morning runs with me.

(holding onto the strap- haha! Like a rollercoaster ride 😉 )

She’s really gotten used to the stroller (I have an adapter for my City Mini Babyjogger stroller), and she sometimes will just take her morning nap in the stroller if our run is long enough.

I couldn’t believe it, but she napped the entire 15K that I did the other day. I could of kept running, but my legs were starting to get really heavy. It’s funny because now I will just keep running & running if my little lady is sleeping! Nothing like a good morning nap to make for a VERY happy baby later.  …the things you do for your child….like running until you feel like your legs may fall off 😉

Anyways, back to my gym membership decision.

Since I have a nice weight collection at home – 5lbs., 8lbs., 12lbs., 15lbs., 20lbs- and a Stability ball there are a TON of exercises that I can still do.

(the 20lbs. dumbbells are missing, I just picked them up on Saturday when I decided to suspend my membership)

And the best part is Gabriella laughs & laughs at me as I do weights. She’s thinks I’m pretty funny looking 😉

At first I was all about keeping my membership, because there are some exercises that I will no longer be able to do. (lat pulldowns, leg presses, elliptical machine, stair stepper, etc.) BUT there are alternatives to these exercises & I will be saving $35 a month! For only being able to go to the gym about 4-8 times a month…I can’t justify spending that. I mean we do have diapers to buy 😉

This weekend was my last day at the gym for a while, so I thought I’d put together a pretty intense workout to end with.

I put the amount of weight I used in parenthesis, just as a guide. If you have any questions about the exercises, please ask!

Gym Workout
(I put the super sets in two different colors so you can tell what you do together)

Squats: 4 sets- 1 warm up set of 15 (65lbs.) ; 3 sets of 10 (95lbs.)
Supersetted with Upright Rows: 3 sets of 12 (20lbs.)

Chest Presses: 4 sets- 1 warm up set of 15 (55lbs.); 3 sets of 10 (65lbs.)
Supersetted with Lat Pulldowns: 3 sets of 10 (70lbs.)

Walking Lunges with Plate Above Head (35lbs.): 3 sets of 12 – each leg
Supersetted with Calf Raises on Machine: 4 sets of 15 (90lbs.)

Dumbbell Curls: 3 sets of 12 (20lbs. each dumbbell)
Supersetted with Tricep Pushdowns: 3 sets of 12 (70lbs.)

Tricep Dips: 3 sets of 15 (bodyweight)
Supersetted with Crunches on Bosu ball (pulling 40lbs. behind head using cable): 3 sets of 25

Situps on Incline Bench holding plate: 3 sets of 15 (35lb. plate)
Tri setted with Side to side crunches on incline bench: 3 sets of 10- each side (holding 10lb. plate)
Tri setted with Standing Oblique crunches holding plate: 3 sets of 15- each side (35lb. plate)

Overhead Tricep Extensions: 3 sets of 20 (20lbs.)
Supersetted with: 3 sets of 21’s (30lb. barbell)

Decline Reverse Crunches: 3 x 10

Hamstring Curls on Machine: 3 sets of 12 (60lbs.)
Supersetted with Adductor Machine (the awkward inner thigh machine): 3 sets of 25 (50lbs)

Once I finished this workout I headed home, fed G$, and then set out for a run with Craig.

Craig ended up pushing her in the stroller, it was his first time ever running with her in it & he was AMAZED at how much of an upper body workout it is. I told him, ‘It’s no joke! It’s a full body workout! And it’s no wonder my speed has increased so much.’ I mean it’s pretty much pushing an additional 20lbs…easily.

Since he took her I was able to do 1200m repeats. OUCH. After the leg work I did in the workout above, combined with 1200m repeats (+ 1 mile warm up & 1 mile cool down) I was D-O-N-E! Thank goodness for rest days on Sunday! I still try to do some kind of activity on Sunday, usually a walk in the park with G, and my legs were definitely feeling it…even with just a walk. (& my tush from those lunges…oof!)

I also wanted to share with you an at-home workout that I did last week. These are more of the types of workouts that I will be sharing from now on. I love full body workouts (I’m sure you can tell by now), but I’m going to try to split up my workouts in the upcoming months- like back/ biceps, tricpes/ chest, abs/ shoulders & leg- all on separate days. Just so I can focus more on these muscle groups each day.

At Home Workout

(Again, I put the super sets in two different colors so you know what to do together)

Crossbody Hammer Dumbbell Curls: 3 x 15
Supersetted with Tricep Dips: 3 x 15

Dumbbell Curls from the side: 3 x 12 (Lift dumbbells from the side, rather than front, and at the same time)
Supersetted with Dumbbell Upright Rows: 3 x 12

1 legged Deadlift holding dumbbells: 3 x 12 (each leg)
Supersetted with Plie Squats with doing Overhead Tricep Extensions: 3 x 12

Stability Ball Pass: 3 x 15
Tri setted with Crunches with Legs in Air : 3 x 15
Tri setted with Crunches with legs on Stability Ball: 3 x 15

Dumbbell Rows: 3 x 12
Supersetted with Front Raises: 3 x 15

Weighted Jack knife sit ups (hold dumbbell in hands): 3 x 12
supersetted with Russian Twists: 3 x 12 (each side) ( I used a dumbbell)

I also finished up with cardio- 3 miles – FAST- 24:22- 8:07 pace. (2 miles under 8 minutes- woo!)

So there ya go…two new workouts for you! Please let me know if you try them…would love to hear feedback!

PS: I added a ‘Workout Log,’ so if you are wondering what I’m up to for workouts, you can check there.

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Welcome to the World!

Good Morning! Happy Friday 🙂

Guess what?! I messed up yesterday…and today is actually my brother in law’s birthday. Oops! I felt like such a loser because I texted him right when I woke up with a ‘Happy Birthday Brother!’ text…only for him to text me back and say ‘Thanks, but you know my birthday is actually tomorrow, right?!’ HA!! Guess I should of checked Facebook before sending that text 😉

BUT in other news…my sister in law, Stephanie, gave birth to my adorable nephew yesterday afternoon!!!! Nathan is his name, and I CANNOT wait to meet him. I hate that we are so far away, but we will be up there to visit them soon though & I CAN’T WAIT!

Hopefully this is one of his first outfits:

I know you can’t really read it, but it says ‘My Aunt Is Awesome.’ 🙂

I’m also looking forward to seeing him in this onesie:

And I KNOW Steph can’t wait to see him in this:

(how cute is Steph pregnant?! She was ALL belly)

Anyways, I suppose you’ve had enough of my bragging about my new nephew. 😉 So here is another workout for you…for Fitness Friday. I guess I’m sticking with the name, as lame as it might be.

It is a full body workout, and it will leave you feelin’ pretty sore once you are done. I know it looks pretty intimidating when you first look at it, because it is long. But once you get started the time will fly by because you are constantly changing exercises. It takes me about an hour to complete..if I add in the cardio, then it’s extra. This is a great workout for the weekend, since you might have some extra time to spend at the gym.

Full Body Weight Workout

Warm up: 10- 15 minutes of cardio (optional- if you have time, I would do this, if not just go straight for the weights)

All of the following exercises are done circuit style, meaning one right after the other. Finish one circuit and then move on to the other. Each circuit focuses on a particular body part.

All exercises are done in 3 sets, 12 reps unless indicated differently.

Leg /Glute Circuit
Barbell Walking Lunges (12 reps EACH leg)
Stiff Leg Barbell Deadlifts (go heavy!)
Wide Stance Leg Press
Calf Raises (Standing or on calf machine)

Chest/ Back Circuit
Barbell Bench Press
Single Arm Dumbbell Row (12 reps EACH arm)
Cable Crossovers
Reverse Dumbbell Flyes

Shoulders
*Iron Cross Exercise (<—KILLER)- just do as many as you can each set
Barbell Upright Row

Bicep/ Triceps Circuit
EZ bar curl
Straight Bar Cable Pushdown
Alternate Hammer Curl (12 reps EACH arm)
Seated Overhead Triceps Press

Ab Circuit
Hanging Leg Raises
Incline Sit-up- holding medicine ball or weight
Incline Side to side sit-ups (for oblique’s)- holding medicine ball or weight (12 reps each side)

STRETCH!

Now I just want to talk about that Iron Cross Exercise for a minute.
(source)
These things are KILLER & I suggest that you use a LIGHT weight, especially if you have never done them before. That’s why I recommend just doing as many as you can. I know they might not look hard, but you will see what I mean if you try them. They are now one of my favorite exercises; not only do they work your shoulders, but it’s really a full body exercise.

Let me know if you try this workout, I’d love some feedback!!

Last but not least, have you tried this vodka yet??

If you like vodka & you like Swedish fish, you will LOVE this stuff. It’s kind of dangerous though because you don’t even know you have alcohol in your drink. That’s a good, but bad thing at the same time. 😉

Have a WONDERFUL weekend!! Any fun plans??

Craig has been out of town this whole week, so I’m looking forward to him being home tonight. I think we may have a date night!! Should be a fun night 🙂

Full Body Weight Workout

I have a feeling this Monday is going to be even more rough than normal for most people. I bet quite a bit of you stayed up to watch the Super Bowl last night. As much as a football fanatic that I am, I did not stay up. I guess I’m still kind of spiteful, and think that the Ravens should have been in the big game. Don’t worry, I won’t go there. I will just keep my thoughts to myself.

The good news is that I think I’m almost over my cold….almost! I have been taking Mucinex & Sudafed like crazy. I always swear by Mucinex, I love the stuff. Every doctor I have gone to always recommends it to me. (for sinus infections)

I’m almost back to my old self.

I’ve been drinking lots of this to help with the symptoms. 😉

Nothing like Starbucks coffee to pick you right up!

I did a KICK butt workout on Saturday & then had a nice long run on Sunday. I haven’t talked much about my workout habits, only because I don’t want my blog to get too caught up in those subjects (eating/ working out); that is part of why I started this new blog. But I do want to share some of my favorite workouts with you; I know I get a lot of workout ideas from blogs, so I thought you might like me to share some of them with you. 🙂

This is a full body workout & it took me about an hour to complete. I also used heavy weight, so that on my last set I was at failure.

Exercise	Reps	Sets
Pushups on Bench (or incline pushup)	15	3
Supersetted with Dumbbell Rows	15	3
Barbell Deadlift	12	3
Supersetted with Dumbbell Sumo Squats	12	3
Bench Dips	15	3
Supersetted with Barbell Bicep Curls	12	3
Incline Dumbbell Bench Press	12	3
Supersetted with Wide Grip Assisted Pullups	12	3
Bulgarian Split Squats with a barbell on shoulders	12 each leg	3
Supersetted with Leg Extensions	12	3
Barbell Upright Rows	12	3
Supersetted with Barbell Military Presses	12	3
Cable Straight Bar Pushdown (for Tri’s)	15	3
Supersetted with Rope Attachment Cable Hammer Curls	15	3

Once I finished the weight part of my workout I did some ab exercises (like incline situps, planks, etc) & then did 20 minutes on the elliptical. I was POOPED by the time we left the gym.

I love doing longer workouts on the weekends, since we don’t have any time constraints, like my weekday morning workouts. It’s nice to be able to not have to worry about leaving in a certain amount of time.

If you want any specific types of workouts- let me know! I have a whole binder full of weight workouts- I’m really BIG on weight lifting. I love it!! I used to be a cardio freak- all I did was run a TON- like 6 miles everyday. But once I discovered weightlifting, my workouts changed entirely. Now I still run, but definitely not as many miles. (unless I’m training for a race) I love the feeling of lifting heavy, & I love how it tones my body.

Some of my favorite weight lifting blogs and websites are: One Fit Foodie, Julie GoLean, JillFit, Meals & Moves, and Body Building.com. If you are ever looking for weight workouts, I suggest checking out any of those sites!