Bodyweight Beginner Calisthenics Workout

Tribesports has come out with another great workout guide that can be done at the park (if it ever stops snowing!)   This routine consists of 5 repetitions of 5 different exercises:

1. Australian Pull-ups 
2. Split Squats (right leg) 
3. Split Squats (left leg) 
4. Lying Knee Tucks 
5. Push-ups

Not sure what an Australian Pull-up is?  Neither was I till I watched the video guide.  

I don't have a lot of upper arm strength yet, but I think the pull-ups will be a great way to work on that.  My form for push ups leaves a lot to be desired as well, but it's getting better!

How to work out at home

Being new to working out, I really had no idea what to do.  I had no desire (or money) to join a gym or hire a personal trainer.  I also didn't have an unlimited budget (or space) to fill my home with equipment.   So far my expenses have been pretty low; I've bought a yoga mat and a pair of 8 lb dumbbells.  I also bought a skipping rope, but quickly realized I have no where to skip.  The empty bedroom upstairs would be perfect, but the ceiling is too low.  So the skipping rope is a bit of a write off till I can get outside.

Not knowing what to do, I was very lucky to come across Tribesports.   Every week I put together a daily workout plan based on the challenges that I've signed up for.

Tribesports has all sort of challenges that are based on repetitions of exercises to be done every day for a week.  Everything from lunges and crunches to something called "dead bugs".  Publicly declaring that I've committed to doing the challenge and then logging in every day to update my progress give me the push and incentive I need to get the challenge done.  Even better is having people encourage me.   I've done more new and different exercises since joining Tribesports than I ever thought possible.  Jumping Jacks, squats,  bicep curls and planks.  They offer instructions, pictures and even video links for how-to's.

It's like having my own personal trainer available 24/7.

Kettlebells

Kettlebells are cast iron weights that have been used since the 1700's.  They were originally developed to help train the Soviet Army but soon become popular with the general population and even started being used in competitive events in the 1940's.  They can vary in weight from as little as 5 lbs all the way up to an impressive 75 lbs.  They are a great addition to a home gym - they don't take up much space but offer a full body workout, including strength and endurance.

I was first introduced to kettlebell workouts when my SIL bought me the book The Swing! The author, Tracy Reifkind lost 100 lbs simply by swinging a kettlebell. The book is a great read and her story is very inspiring. She also includes a great section on selecting the right kettlebell for you and proper technique for building a workout routine around kettlebell swinging. My SIL uses her kettlebell as part of her workout routine and loves it.  It doesn't take a lot of time and you can pick it up and start swinging while you are waiting for the laundry to finish or the water to boil for a cup of tea.

Lots of gyms are now offering kettlebell classes, but really, it's something you can just as easily do on your own at home. Tribesports has a great kettlebell challenge that just came out this week. With just one kettlebell you can do 4 different exercises.  They recommend that women start with an 8 lb weight and once you are comfortable with that and have developed good form, you can move up to a 15 pound kettlebell.  Just click on the image below to see all the details on the Tribesports challenge, including detailed guides on each of the 4 exercises.

Let's get swinging!

I'm going for it!

This year Liam's school is trying something different as a fund raiser.  They are hosting a trail run.  It will include a 5K run, a 10K run, a 5K walk and a 2K run for the kids.

I have never run a race before.  Really, I've never run before.  Sure we run for about 10 minutes as our warm up at TaeKwon-Do, but that is as far and long as I've ever done.  It works out to be about 0.5K, a far cry from 5K.  And it's only been in recent weeks that I can occasionally run that length without having to stop and walk for a bit.

Even so, I'm entering the 5K run on June 15th.  The school is also offering a "Learn to Run" program that starts in April.  Along with that I'm going to start the Couch to 5K program as soon as the snow and ice are gone.

Until I can get out and start running, I'm working on strength building with indoor exercises.  I continue to take challenges from Tribesports that are body weight based, so that I can do them any time and any where. Of course losing some more weight will also help with running.  The less mass I have to move, the better!

Please consider joining me on June 15th and entering one of the runs.  Check out the Ocean Breeze Trail Run website for details and to register.

Get Stretched

One of the things I like about Tribesports is that they have these great guides.

This one is an 11.5 minute stretching routing that work all your major muscles. Stretching before and after a workout is so important but something that many people often neglect. Stretching gets your blood flowing and increases your circulation. It can help you build better flexibility by lengthening your muscles. It can help prevent injury by warming up your muscles slowly before you hit them hard with the real workout.

It’s important to remember to stretch properly. It’s easy to fall into the habit of “bouncing” or rushing your stretches. This can do more damage in the long run. Stretching should never hurt. You may feel resistance as you are building your flexibility but if it hurts you’ve pushed yourself too far.

Come on over to Tribesports and join this challenge to Get Stretched!

What are you giving up?

Growing up as a Catholic, I was always asked by all the adults in my life, "What are you going to give up for Lent?"  Since I've always struggled with my weight, I always tried to give up things like cookies or ice cream.  I don't think I was ever successful.

I no longer consider myself Catholic and I haven't thought about giving up something for Lent in years.  Over at Tribesports though I have been doing a lot of healthy eating challenges, so when one came up asking us to challenge ourselves to give up something for Lent, I figured I would give it a go.  

I've decided to give up potato (and other vegetable, since I much prefer parsnip) chips for the next 40 days.

My other food challenges currently include no candy for 2 weeks, a low carb diet for 1 week, drinking green tea every day and no coffee shop coffee for 2 weeks.  And outside of Tribesport challenges I have also cut myself down to 1 cup of coffee a day (with half the sugar in it that I used to use), no pop and no alcohol.

The surprising thing of all this?  I don't crave any of the things I've given up.  I don't feel hungry or unsatisfied during the day.  I don't feel deprived at all.  And I'm seeing the results in my weight already.  Win-Win!

So what are you giving up?

1400 crunches down!

2 weeks ago I signed up for a challenge at Tribesport to do 100 crunches a day for 2 weeks.

Phew!  I did it!

It was not an easy challenge.  Starting out I could only do 10 crunches before I had to rest.  And after the first day I didn't think I would be able to keep going as I wrenched my neck quite badly.  Your position and using the right muscles is very important when doing crunches as you don't want to use your neck muscles at all, but it is a natural feeling to use them to give yourself momentum.

Originally I thought that I would have to split the 100 crunches into 2 - half in the morning and half at night, but I quickly found I could do all 100 in a go, with a few seconds break here and there.  By the last day I could do 50 bicycle crunches (my favourite of the 6 types I tried) without having to take a break.   And even with breaks 100 crunches only take a few minutes.

I don't think I can see any visible difference in my abdominal area, but I am starting to feel just a wee bit firmer and more toned.  I don't know that I'll keep up with 100 crunches everyday, but they will certainly be a part of my rotating routine.

Weigh In - Jan 27, 2013

Starting Weight - 217 on January 1st, 2013
Current Weight - 208.9

Weight lost this week -  0.6 lbs

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Not a huge loss this week, but progress all the same.

We rented a car this weekend which drastically cuts down on the amount of walking that I do.  Also the cold and ice of January on the East coast has really set in, so my desire to be outside is nil, and my fear of falling is through the roof.  I shuffle along the side walk like a 90 year old person, each step pre-planned to find the safest place to set it down, lest I slip on the ice.  Walking like that doesn't burn very many calories.

I'm keeping up on all my Tribesport challenges.  I've been working on my arms more this week, since I bought myself 8 pound hand weights.  I didn't think 8 pounds was all that heavy, till I had tried to lift them over my head 15 times.  I still struggle with doing push ups.  I started against the wall and have progressed to the counter.  I can do about 10 before I feel like I'm going to collapse.  Later today I'll be planning out next week's challenges and I think I will concentrate more on leg exercises.

I'm struggling to keep my calorie count as low as I would like.  Even though I'm making great food choices, I can't seem to cut out the calories.  That is another area I want to concentrate on this week.

Crunches

Like most people who have weight to lose, I carry most of it around my middle.  Making good food choices and lowering my calorie intake is a great first step to losing weight, but without exercise there is only so far that diet alone will take me.

Since my tummy area is something that I want to work on, this Tribesport challenge couldn't have come at a better time.  The challenge is to do 100 crunches everyday for 2 whole weeks.  Eeek! That's a lot of crunches.  Luckily they have 6 different versions of crunches to help keep things interesting.

Crunches work on your rectus abdominus muscle, the most prominent muscle in your core.  Toning this muscle will help your belly to appear more flat as you start losing the fat around it. Having good core strength also helps you in many other areas.  It helps with posture and overall support for your body, especially your spine.

Using the correct technique for each type of crunch is also important to get the most benefit from it.  The Tribesport page gives details on each type, including pictures.

I'm going to sign up for this challenge today.  I'll post here as I go to see how I manage with 100 crunches a day.  So far, the most I've ever done is 30, but I learned from this challenge that I've been doing reverse crunches and not regular ones like I thought I was doing.  I suspect that I will have to split this challenge up over the day to 50 in the morning and 50 at night. 

Wish me luck!!

It's just a number

Why is it that intellectually you can know something to be true and the right thing to do, but it is still so hard?

Every blog, report, pamphlet or article that you read on weight loss will all say the same thing: Don’t be a slave to the scales. It’s just a number. Don’t weigh yourself every day.

But what do I continue to do? Yup, weigh myself every day.

There is so much more to being healthy then just a measurement of my current weight. How I feel, my energy level, how I move, my appettit, how I’m sleeping, my moods and how my clothes fit are all better indications of how I’m doing overall than a simple number on a scale. Then there is the problem that every scale is different. I weighed 5 lbs more at the doctor’s office then I did at home 30 minutes before hand. The current medical standards all say that I should weigh 165 lbs. But how will I feel at 165 lbs? Will I like the way I look or move? My goal is to be fit and healthy, not to mould myself into society's current definition of what a woman should look like.

Logically I agree with all the reasons for why I should not weigh myself everyday. I know that my weight can fluctuate from day to day just from existing and it may not have anything to do with actual weight gains or losses. And at some level I know that it’s just a number. For me though, that number (at least right now) is an encouragement and not a detterent to my resolve. I celebrate the losses, no matter how small and the gains make me more determined to make better choices. I won’t let myself get to a point of obsessing over the number each day. I may be disappointed by a small gain, but I’m not going to punish myself by doing more push ups, or cutting back my calories drastically for the day. I do reflect on what may have caused the gain and I decide if it was worth it, like last week when we ordered in Indian food (yes, it was very much worth it).

I would like to get to a point that I am comfortable with not weighing myself so often. To be confident in my food and exercise choices to know that I’m doing all the right things and that the weight loss will just naturally follow. One of the things that might help me with that is the Tribesport challenge to stay off the scale for 21 days.

Take the Challenge to Stay off the scales for 21 days and see if you can improve your fitness, mental happiness and waistline in that time!

I'll let you know when I'm ready to start the challenge.  It should be soon.

Weigh In - Jan 13, 2013

Starting Weight - 217 on January 1st, 2013
Current Weight - 210.5

Weight lost this week -  2.4 lbs

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I had a great week!  I made it to TaeKwon-Do 3 times (and the Wednesday class was a killer!)  I've kept up my TribeSport challenges at home everyday.  I walked 2 mornings even though it was icy out.

I did have 2 meals that far exceeded the calories that I should have, but that's okay.  This isn't about dieting and denying myself certain foods.  It's about making a lifelong commitment to health and fitness. Yes, what I weigh is still an important part of that, because I don't believe that I can be healthy and physically fit at my current weight.  But while I'm working on seeing the number on the scales improve, I'm also working on being able to do better lunges, to run longer and farther and to hopefully one day be able to do an actual, proper push-up.

Weigh in - Jan 6, 2013

Starting Weight - 217 on January 1st, 2012
Current Weight - 212.9

Weight lost this week -  1.8 lbs

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I'm feeling very much back on track!  I've managed to exercise every day this week, even with a cold, mostly thanks to the motivation from Tribesports.com .  I also got back to TaeKwon-Do yesterday after the 2 week holiday break.

It's always so easy to be motivated the first week of a new year.  The key is to keep it up. Right now I'm feeling great about my plan, especially about having S.M.A.R.T. goals to work towards.

I'm looking forward to 2013 being a great year!

Walk to the Moon

Did you know that the distance to the moon is 384,400 km?  I didn't.  It's a great goal though, logging enough steps to walk to the moon.  But if I tried to do it on my own, even if I could hit my 10,000 steps a day, it would take me 48,050 days or 131 years.

Not likely to happen.

But if you get a whole group of people logging not only their walking, but their running, rowing and cycling kilometres too, it can be done.  And that is exactly what we are doing over at Tribesports.com

The challenge started at the end of August and currently has 537 people adding to our distance every day.  So far we have moved 48,605 km.  That's 12% of the way there!

We can always use more people to get us to the moon faster, so come on over and join up.  The goal is to get to the moon by August 5th, 2013 to celebrate Neil Armstrong's birthday.