Friday, October 18, 2013

Fitness Friday

Welcome to Fitness Fridays! If you've read my 'about me' page I let you know that I'm an avid outdoor runner. I hate going to the gym where I feel like people are judging me and truly, I don't have time to go to the gym. Fitness research seems to fascinate me as I do my best to lead a healthy life style. My goal for this new addition to my blog is to inspire women and their family to go out and be fit in fun quick ways. Many of my friends are new mommies or getting ready to be a new mommy which leaves them even less time to take care of themselves. I will do my best to keep helpful work out tips to a maximum of 15 minutes total even though the recommended daily amount of exercises is a 30 minutes, but we'll get to that later!

In my own house I have my own room for whatever I want. It's a multi purpose room that I have set up for crafts but mostly excersise. In our apartment I took over a corner in our living room. Over time I have made an investment onto work equipment for my own room. Note the word INVESTMENT! I do not own any machines but instead I have 1 set of 5 lbs dumbells, 1 set of 10lbs dumbells, 1 8lbs kettlebell, a set of resistance bands, a pullup bar, a stability ball, a 5lbs medicine ball and a yoga mat.  I bought all of this over time.

How many of you have one of those stability balls you purchased way back when? When is the last time you actually used your stability ball? A few months ago I purchased my own stability ball . I always loved sitting on my moms whenever I would go over to her house. Unbeknownst me I was actually doing a very lite core exersize when sitting on it. This past week I was feeling like I needed to do a little bit more core work and I really wanted to incorporate my stability ball, so off I went googling and pinterest-ing to see what I could find. I needed something I could do in between comercial breaks of my weekly TV shows and that’s exactly what I found! See the exercises from Pop Sugar contributer Susi May below or click here to go to the Pop Sugar webpage .

 


Keep reading for more details.

After warming up with light cardio for five minutes, work your way through this series of six exercises. Repeat entire workout two to three times.

1. Plank
Place your hands on the floor and your shins on the ball, coming into a push-up position with your shoulders directly under your hands. Hold for 30 seconds. Increase the difficulty by adding 10 push-ups after your plank. Repeat three times.

2. Knee-Tuck Crunch
Start in a plank position with the tops of your feet on the ball. Pull your knees to your hands, rounding your spine by engaging your abs. Lengthen back to starting position. Do 10 reps.

3. Classic Crunches
Begin sitting on the ball, and walk your feet out until your rib cage is on the ball. Squeeze your glutes to keep your pelvis in line with your shoulders. Interlace your fingers, and place them behind your head for support. Exhale, pulling your abs to your spine and pressing the rib cage into the ball to lift your head. Lower head, and repeat for 20 reps.

4. Inner-Thigh Squeeze
Lie on your side, and place the exercise ball between your feet. Slowly lift the ball up toward the ceiling, working your inner thighs and hips. Do 15 reps.

5. Hamstring Curl
Lie on your back with an exercise ball under your heels. Lift your hips up, and keep them up as you slowly bend your knees, rolling the ball toward you and bringing the soles of your feet onto the top of the ball. Return legs to straightened position. Do 15 reps.

6. Ball Pass
Lie on your back, holding the ball with straight arms lifted toward the ceiling; raise your leg toward the ceiling too. Keep your lower back pressed into the floor as you lower the ball toward your head and your legs toward the floor. Return to starting position, and switch the ball so you're holding it with your feet. Lower your feet to the floor, reaching your arms overhead. Return to starting position. Do 10 reps.

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