Friday, September 2, 2011

90 day challenge prep: part 5

Today, we're planning out our fitness routines! I know, I said it was a post on forgiveness, but that is TOMORROW (I promise). So... deal, lol.

That being said, working out. The all-important calorie burning! Working those muscles, and getting that heart rate up!

So, because this is MY blog, here's about me:
I lead a very active lifestyle. I walk a lot, and I'm on my feet a lot. I also need to focus more on toning up my muscle mass then necessarily losing weight. Lastly, I have very weak knees, which severely limits the amount and type of exercise I can do. I'm also, as I have mentioned, very strong for my size and build, and in the middle of my fitness journey. Please adjust anything you do for yourself to your body, and work at your own pace!

ok, that being said, here's what I'm going to try for, work out wise:

30 minutes of toning exercise or a "focused cardio" session (30 mins or more) every day.
I'm aiming for three weekly cardio sessions, and four toning days, but I'm flexible.

Ideas for Focused Cardio:
- swimming laps. One of my FAVORITES- an all over work out
-bike riding
-walking
-Yoga (although this is BARELY a work out for me)

Why the phrase "Focused Cardio"? 
Like I said, I'm very active. It becomes very easy for me to say "well, I walked across campus, that's a work out!" Or "I moved boxes all day, that counts" I need to up my calorie burning, and to do that, I need to devote time to working out. So, I need to be able to commit to spending time working out!

Toning
I need to work primarily on my ab muscles and arms when I'm toning. My legs are in pretty good shape, from the long years of ballet training. They have pretty decent definition, and they are very strong. My arms, however strong, need to be toned and defined, as do my abs!

Toning Exercises I love:
-crunches
-backwards crunches (lift your tailbone instead of your shoulders)
-double crunches (do both at once!)
-side to side crunch/bike
-arm curls (use full water bottles instead of buying weights, if you're at home!)
-chair pullups (sit in a chair, arms on either side of your thighs. Lower your body off the chair and back up, by bending your arms!)
-jar exercise (hold your arms out to either side. hold 15 counts. Then 15 counts of a "turning" motion, like opening a peanut butter jar. then 15 of dipping your hands in the peanut butter, followed by 15 of spreading the pb on the wall, then putting the lid back on. Harder than it looks! For an extra challenge, add a SMALL amount of weight!)

So that's that! Those are my goals for working out. Toning everyday with no cardio, and at least 90 minutes a week of "focused cardio"

What are you going to do to get active?

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