What's Your Dream?

Rowing is where it’s at! I totally forgot about rowing machines. I can never go on them for too long because they make my back muscles go crazy because they are actually being used for a change! But last night I did a solid 15 minutes on a rower and it was pretty good. My back feels like someone round house kicked me yesterday but that is exactly what I was wanting, to feel like I am making real progress on strengthening my back. I love the fact that it is a cardio workout as well. That was my main draw to it yesterday. I wanted to get 30 minutes of cardio in and after 17 minutes on the StairMaster I ventured over to the rower to work a bit more on my back. I think I figured out that I just need to go nice and slow with a consistent rhythm on the rower and I can go for quite a while. Usually I try to go pretty hard and want to give up after a few minutes. But Last night I felt like I could keep on going last night for quite a while. A little known fact about me, I LOVE the StairMa...

With my new plan to go to the gym now three to four times a week after work I have decided to do something I really struggle with. Weight lifting. It’s not that I don’t know how it’s just that I don’t like to do it! I find cardio much more enjoyable and therefore it is much easier for me to do. I need to work on my overall strength and besides that muscle burns fat!   Last year I was taking out the trash and I bent over to pick up the bag and I pinched a nerve in my back and I couldn’t hardly walk for three days and it took almost two weeks to fully recover. I still think that my recovery probably would have gone a lot faster if I had had a stronger back. Last night when I was at the gym I really wanted to work on my back strength but I realized that I really don’t know many exercises for that and I only found two machines to work on it. So today I thought I would look up some new moves to improve back strength and share them with you. We all know that abs mean nothing unless ...

I'm sure that you have heard of planning your weekly meals ahead of time, that way you have absolutely no excuse not to eat healthy during the week. But today I was thinking of new ways to create a no excuse atmosphere in my life. After discussing and our weekly workout routines with Anthony we decided that I will now go on to the gym after I get off work instead of driving straight home, then on my days off we will do our weekly runs together.  Traffic is kind of miserable during the drive home after work and it turns a 15 minute drive into a 35 minute drive. With the gym only being about seven blocks away from work, about 5 minutes, I thought those extra 20 minutes of drive time could be spent at the gym instead of stuck in traffic. By the time the traffic will be much less severe and it won't have lost anytime but instead gained a workout. I wanted to take it a step further and make it even easier for me so that way I would not have an excuse not to go to the gym afte...

So this week if the first week in a long time that I have actually planned out my workouts. I wish I had better news to share about my progress this week... First three days went great! Sunday -  Get your rear in gear 5k  (3.1 miles) Monday - 3 mile run 30 min strength Tuesday - 6 mile run Then Wednesday came... I was able to get the 8 miles in, it was rough because I decided to use the gym instead of running outside. BIG mistake, I had forgotten just how hard it is to use treadmills! So I kept going back and forth between a treadmill and elliptical, but I got those 8 miles in! I was working so hard that I completely forgot about the 30 minute strength exercise. So I fell behind on that.  Wednesday - 8 mile run 30 min strength My gym! See the wet parking lot? That's why I decided to take on the gym for my 8 miles. I love how ellipticals use a different set up muscles than just running but my toes always go numb.  Today's schedule w...

So today instead of going for a run I just had to go to the gym to cross train.  My friend Tricia is really big into cycling classes so I decided to try cycling once again today on my own. It went alright but dang! I have no idea how she does it for an hour!  I made it out alive but I could only make it for 30 minutes! So I took an after photo to prove that I survived! After a short stretch session I went on to my gym usual, the stairmaster. I started using the stairmaster a couple of years ago when I was invited to do The Big Climb Seattle, a 69 flight stair climb at the Columbia Tower in downtown Seattle. And to train I did the stairmaster a impossible amount to get ready for the climb. I have a love-hate relationship with the stair master. I love it because of how amazing of a work out it is and I hate it because it can make my legs cramp up really easily. So today instead of just doing a short stretch session afterwards I stretched for at least 20 minutes before heading ou...