Quick Workout

The other day I wanted to work out but didn't want to get in my car, drive into town, and get on a treadmill to run. I made up a quick workout to get my heart going and get my workout in for the day.

Warm up
March in Place
Gets you moving and starts to warm your body up. Get your knees up and do for 30-60 seconds.

Windmills
These also get your heart rate up and is a good dynamic stretch for your arms/upper body. Do about 30-60 seconds

Jumping Jacks.
These are good because it gets your heart rate up and they get you warm. I did 100 but listen to your body. If you have a hard time doing them, try a couple sets of 15 and then work your way up from there.

The workout (repeat through 2-3 times)

Push-ups
Builds up your upper body. Again if you are just beginning don't push yourself too much, but push enough. I did 15 girl push ups

Bicycle
This is the most effective ab-exercise for you. It builds your legs and your core. It helps your "muffin top" and helps you to build up your leg flexors (important for trail runners). I do 20 on each side

Plyometric Squats
It's like a squat but explosive! Here is a good example of how to perform them. Don't do too many or you won't be able to walk the next day (I may have pushed myself too much) I would suggest doing about 10 this first time.

Plank
Builds upper body and core strength. Shoot for a minute your first time and build from there. I also do the side plank on both sides. I am not very strong on my sides so I do it for about 45 seconds.

Mountain Climber Twists
I LOVE THESE! I would always have the people I trained perform these! Why? Because 1-they are my favorite and 2- They build upper body strength, your core, and your leg flexors.

Plyometric Lunges

Again it's explosive! 

Repeat. If you don't want to do the Plyo's, just do a regular squat and lunge. It still works your bottom!

Cool down
VERY IMPORTANT! You need to stretch the muscles you just warm-up. It helps to prevent muscle stiffness and injuries. I stretch my arms, back, chest, legs, sides, neck, everything. Here is a website with some really good stretches.

Challenge: Get up a 30 minutes early and do these exercises. Modify them to YOU! If you only can handle doing it once through. AWESOME! That is one more than you did yesterday. Always think of what you do and not what you didn't do.  

A parent's guide to exercise

I found this video on Youtube and thought it was quite humorous, but really these are good tips if you want to help your kids (and even yourself) get in shape. Enjoy!

Challenge: Implement these exercises in your child's life and even in your own life.

Knee pain?

I am a runner. One of the most common injuries for runners is IT (Illiotibial) band pain. I wanted to know more about how to stretch and strengthen it, but first I will tell you a little bit about it. IT band pain is pain that occurs mainly from overuse. It usually occurs in individuals who are over-training or running a certain way. The IT band is rubbing against the knee causing inflammation to occur. The pain is on the outside of your knee. Here is a picture of where the pain is located on a right injured leg.

I found some great exercises. These two stretches have come from the May 2004 issue of Running Times Magazine. There are more exercises if you want to check them out. The pictures below are demonstrating a right IT band injury, so if it's your left leg that is hurting, do the opposite. 

Stretch #1: You pull your food up to the back of your buttocks. Then cross your uninjured leg over the injured leg and push down for 30 seconds.

Stretch #2: You cross your injured leg over the uninjured side and pull the leg as close to your chest as possible. Hold for 15-30 seconds.

Challenge: If you have IT band syndrome, incorporate one of these stretches into your workout. If not, let me know about something you would like to stretch and work on.