Monday, November 14, 2011

Pinterest Workouts

I've joined the Pinterest bandwagon. Tonight I was looking for a workout to get in some cardio so I turned to my new addiction and looked under the Fitness section on Pinterest. Here is what I found and tried out:

The 100 Workout
Found here


Tabata Intervals
Found here


I was still feeling like I needed more cardio so I added 3 more Tabata intervals
Interval #1
step ups x 2 rounds
mountain climbers x 2 rounds

step ups x 2 rounds
mountain climbers x 2 rounds

Interval #2
football run x 4 rounds 
split lunges x 4rounds

Interval #3
side-to-side lunges
side-to-side jumps


Sunday, November 13, 2011

Back to Heavy Lifting

I guess it's been awhile since I last posted. Oops. I get lazy sometimes. That's really my only explanation.

In other news, I've started a new weight routine. For the last few years I've been like a lot of females and avoided heavy lifting in the gym. I gravitated towards the using the wee free weights with lots of reps to do more endurance exercise with the goal of toning up. Well this plan worked, for about 6 months, but then I plateaud. 1 and a half years later I'm still doing the same thing and I've still plateaued.....what can I say, I don't like change. Well I finally pulled up my big girl pants and decided it was time for change so I switched up my weitght routine. The plan: heavier weights, less reps.

In my hunt for a new routine, I found this book The New Rules of Lifting for Women which does a great job of introducing women to heavier lifting in the gym. There are 7 stages, with 2 workout routines at each stage. The first stage get you used to using weights and lifting heavier, and then each stage is progressively tougher. Right now I am on Stage 2 and so far this workout seems like the real deal. As with any weight routine, it is as challenging as you make it so I definitely make sure I try to load up on the weight. A good stand by to measure intensity is to make sure the last 2-3 reps are hard to do and make you want to give up easily.

Stay tuned for more updates on this as I work my way through the stages.