Fitness Friday:3

Flexibility! I've mentioned it before but with my recent doctors visits my thoughts were reaffirmed. While I work on trying to get my knees back into tip top shape, the importance of increasing my flexibility comes to the forefront. I plan on making flexibility a top priority by warming up and stretching every morning.

Would you like to become more flexible? One of the main things that a lot of people do incorrectly is not holding a stretch long enough. A minimum of 30 seconds is recommended. Here's some other ideas about how to stretch properly.

Also, try and stretch all of your major muscle groups regularly:
Neck,
Triceps,
Shoulders,
Abs,
Back,
Sides,
Buttocks,
Groin,
Quadriceps,
Hamstrings (my personal nemesis),
Gastrocnemius a.k.a. Calves,
and Shins.
(When done properly it should take between 10-12 minutes)

I think I need to be more flexible in other areas of my life as well:
Emotionally,
Mentally, and
Spiritually.

Maybe I should try and become an all around contortionist... hehe

Week 3 - The Magic of W's

I'm definitely making progress and it makes me smile! :) I don't know how long I'll be able to keep up such dramatic progress (for me it's dramatic), but I'm happy with it so far! I feel confident in saying that sticking to my goals works for me, and might work for someone else if he or she follows them faithfully. It's not too late to join me! :D

Anyway, to get to my goal's for the week remember W's:

WATER minimum 64 oz. daily

WALKING/jogging 45 minutes daily

WEIGHTS 2 sets of 10 reps of the exercises described last Friday

WATCH what you eat, paying special attention to serving sizes, calories, and balance.

Then of course you have the crunches and pushups. This week I will do 25 crunches and 13 pushups daily.

Something else I forgot to mention is STRETCH! If you work out regularly you need to make sure to stretch all of your major muscles. On Friday I'll show you what I do to stretch. :) Being flexible is a major key to preventing injury.
Good luck! :)

Fitness Friday:2

So, I've been working on running a mile and I've gotten to the point where I can jog half a mile without stopping. :) Anyway, in my weekly post I said that I'd describe my resistance work so here it is: If you'd like further detail, just say so in a comment!
(Each exercise is linked to a video showing how it's done.)

2 sets of 8 repetitions of the following with 3 or 5 lb barbells:

-bicep curls (arm at side slightly bent, tuck elbow next to side, slowly bend arm raising weight up and then back down again)

-tricep extensions (kneel on all fours/lean over, tuck elbow into side arm bent 90 degrees and slowly straighten arm out, and bend again)

- over head shoulder press (hands next to head, elbows out, slowly raise hands over head until almost straight and bring them back down)

-lateral arm raises (arms slightly bent at side, raise them out to form a T and then slowly lower them back again)

-squats (feet facing front, bend knees and waist until knees reach 90 degrees, bring arms forward)

-lunges (one leg forward, lean forward until knee reaches 90 degrees, back knee close to floor)

-pelvic/hip raises (lay on back, bend knees, feel flat, raise hips until straight line from shoulder to knee, slowly lower back down again)

Do 1 minute:
standing twists (stand feet shoulder width apart bring barbells in close to chest and twist at waist)

As many as you can:
crunches (minumum 20)

push ups (minumum 10)