12 Minute Workout #16: Breath and Burn

Here's a great combination workout:

a little muscle work mixed with a little cardio, using

multi-muscle functional moves to get your heart rate up and build muscle.

Equipment needed: a timer or app set for 12 rounds of 50 seconds of work followed by 10 seconds of rest (use the 10 second rest to get into position for the next exercise), a chair for triceps dips, and a set of hand weights (or substitute water bottles, soup cans, or anything moderately heavy you can get good grip on) for bicep curls. Keep the abs engaged and the spine long throughout.  Run through the series twice if you can.



                                                        

1. Thread the needle - on right elbow

2. Thread the needle - on left elbow

3. Pushed up shoulder touches - try to minimize body movement

4. Oblique mountain climbers - quickly alternate pulling knees towards opposite elbows

5. Triceps dips

6. Burpees - rest as needed, but work hard!

7. Reverse lunge with front kick - right

8. Reverse lunge with front kick - left

9. Jumping Jacks

10. High knees

11. Bicep curls

12. Squat jump

Meal Plan (7/8 - 7/14)

We're jumping back in with simple, healthy meals incorporating lots of veggies and lean protein. This week's veggie chop is ready to go and I have shredded chicken pre-portioned in the freezer. Flank steak was on special, so I got a small one to marinate and throw on the grill. The recipe for curried zucchini couscous is a new one and I'll share it later in the week. Hit the farmer's market and load up on fresh, local, colorful veggies this week!

Home again, home again

The end of vacation is always bitter sweet...

     I love the sand and the sun, but I get to go home and see my dog.

          It's fun and exciting to go somewhere new and different, but I like to sleep in my own bed.

I get to spend all day all week with my honey, but ... nope - there's nothing better than spending all day all week with my honey, unless you add our kids to the mix!

But vacation is over, and home we are.

And though St Thomas was BEAUTIFUL, there was no place to run (safely). So much for our marathon training this past week. Besides the entire island being super hilly - which actually would have been okay, we need to do some hill work - there are no sidewalks, and the roads are VERY narrow, VERY windy (think blind curve after blind curve), with absolutely NO shoulder. We felt we would be putting our lives in danger to run on the roads. The complex we stayed in had no fitness facilities and the grounds were pretty small and busy. Of the 6 beaches we visited, the longest one was maybe a mile, so no beach runs either. We even called a nearby resort to see about a day pass so we could pound out 7 miles on their treadmills. At $100 a piece, we decided against it. So -- no running for a week. Gulp. Our 12 miler this weekend could be interesting...

But we stayed pretty active. We hiked... a lot. For hours and miles we hiked steep hills in both directions, explored sugar plantation ruins, and enjoyed beaches you can't drive to. We snorkeled until we thought our lips would fall off. We played smash ball and track ball, probably to the annoyance of the beach goers around us. 



                                      

And we ate pretty clean, most of the time. We rented a place with a full kitchen so most of our meals we fixed ourselves. We enjoyed almost every meal outside: either on our porch or packed as a picnic. Fresh fruit was plentiful but veggies were not. I can't remember another time when I have gone a full week without any spinach.

One of the meals we made in our room: rice with black beans and corn, green salad with pecans, carrots, and garlic bread.

Vacation is over and now it's time to get serious about our training. We've got 10 weeks until the marathon. My honey wants to drop a few pounds so meals will get leaner as our runs get longer. And we'll be adding in a few 12 minute workouts every week to boost strength and core work. I took on an additional class to my teaching schedule (yoga) so classes will keep me busy as well.

I hope you are having a happy, healthy, active summer!!