Achieving My Goals + Choose-Your-Own-Adventure Kettlebell Workout

So, I killed it on the step goal today.  I'm a little over 20,000 steps for the day.  I decided to set my alarm a little earlier this morning so that I could make my morning walk a little longer. I ended up putting in 3.5 miles to start the day.

Then on my lunch break I put in another mile around the neighborhood because I was cold and tired and I needed something to warm me up and get my blood pumping.  Maybe I went a little overboard on that considering that it was nearly 100 degrees outside today.  

And tonight after supper, Emily and I walked a little more than a mile. I forgot to map my walk so I'm not sure exactly how far we went.  But my roses sure were pretty today.


I also got in my kettlebell workout this afternoon. I'm kinda into making up my own routine. Have you ever read a Choose-Your-Own-Adventure book where you get to choose what happens next in the story? That's kinda what I feel like when I make up my own kettlebell routine.

I was pretty sore from my last kettlebell day so I tried to scale back a little today.

Warm-up then five sets of the following with the 25 pound kettlebell:

#	Movement	Reps
1	Two-hand Kettlebell Swing	20
2	Kettlebell High Pull	16
3	Overhead Press	6 left, 6 right
REPEAT CIRCUIT 5 TIMES

I did the 5 sets over a couple hours.  I'm not sure if it's as effective as doing them all at once, but that's the only way I could fit in a kettlebell workout today.  I probably would not have been able to do 5 sets all at once. Just sayin!

Have you ever used a kettlebell?

What size kettlebell do you use?

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Nicely Sore + Finally Hit the New Step Goal

Okay so that kettlebell workout yesterday turned out to be a good one.  Did I mention that I intended to do 3 sets of the workout, but could only manage to complete 2 sets?

Today my deltoid muscles are nicely sore.  Deltoid muscles?  Yeah. You know ... those muscles on the back of your shoulder that wraps around the back of your arm?  Am I the only one who Googles the names of my sore muscles?  Hurts so good.  That's all I'm saying.

Tomorrow is another kettlebell day so I need to start Googling a good full body kettlebell workout.  Maybe this one? Or this one looks good. Or what about this pumped up workout?

I also managed to meet my new 13,000 step goal today for the first time.  I started with a 3 mile walk this morning then I had to jump on my exercise trampoline several times during the day to keep on track to reach my goal.  I try to remember to pay attention to the Fitbit feature that tracks how many hours I walk at least 250 steps.  Some days I do better than others.  Today I did pretty well and hit 11 of 14 hours. (I've set 7am to 9pm as my active hours.)

Every little bit helps.  The main thing is to keep putting in work every day.

Do you embrace your sore muscles?  

Have you ever used a foam roller to try to roll out the soreness?

Do you have any suggestions on kettlebell workouts?

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Happy Monday + Kettlebell Weight Training

Happy Monday!  I don't know about you, but this has been a long Monday for me.

I started out with 3.16 miles outside in the neighborhood.  That got me a little over 7,000 steps toward my new 13,000 daily step goal.  A long walk followed by a nice big fruit bowl for breakfast.  That's what I call a good start to the day.

After a busy day at work, I had to end the day with a sweaty kettlebell workout.

Tonight, I used a 25 pound kettlebell and it is no joke.  I'm not gonna lie - when I use this thing, my arms and legs just shake and I sweat so much.  My shirt is soaked through.  My arms just feel dead.  AND I LOVE IT!  Anybody with me on this?

Yes, I like to do my kettlebell workouts in my bathroom.  Kinda crazy?  I'm a mom - it's one of the few places I can get any privacy!

See the picture below? This is the heart rate monitor on my Fitbit Flex during my kettlebell workout today.  The kettlebell is NO JOKE.  It's hard work.

This was my workout tonight.

Warm-up then two sets of the following:

1. Two-hand Kettlebell Swing - 20 reps
2. Kettlebell Cleans - 10 reps left,  10 reps right
3. Military Presses - 6 reps left, 6 reps right (My goal was 8, I could only do 6)
4. Front Squats - 8 reps left, 8 reps right
5. Renegade Lunges - 10 reps
6. Kettlebell High Pull  - 20 reps (WOW!)
7. One-leg Deadlift - 10 reps left, 10 reps right
8. One-arm Rows - 10 reps left, 10 reps right

REPEAT!

Then I did a bit of ab work - 20 rolling kettlebell situps, 15 kettlebell situps, 20 rolling kettlebell situps.

BOOM.

I'd never done the Kettlebell High Pull before.  I will probably be feeling that workout tomorrow. My shoulder is already feeling it.  Yikes.  I better go get my foam roller and pray for the best.

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Weekend Goal Results and a Walking Buddy

Well, the weekend results are in and I crushed my step goal!  I was aiming for at least 30,000 steps over the two days and I hit just over 32,000 tonight.

My long walk tonight was with my daughter, Emily.  She's a great walking buddy and it gives us a nice opportunity to chat.  I'm not sure how much longer she'll be willing to go for walks with me, but I'll take it while I can get it.  You know what I'm saying?


Tonight, though, it was way too hot!  My MapMyRun app has been messing up so I don't know exactly how far we walked, but we were out for just about an hour.  We had to stop and take a break at this turret for a few minutes.  Luckily, we were able to find a spot out of the sun that had a pretty good breeze.  Yeah I'll take that wind on my face.


This week, I'm upping my step goal to 13k steps per day.  That's almost 2000 steps more than my current goal, but I think I can manage it.  My only concern is the heat - we're expected to see temps at or near 100 degrees most days this week.

What's your strategy for exercising outdoors in the heat?  Got any good tips?

Based on the shadow picture in this post, can you guess how old my daughter is?

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Setting Exercise Goals for the Weekend

Hi guys!  Happy weekend!

Don't you just love the weekends?

I love weekends because I get to spend more time with my family and I don't have to conform to my work-week routine.  But weekends are also harder from a diet and exercise standpoint because I don't have my routine to rely on to keep me on track.

During the week, I get up before 6am and put in 3 miles before I start my day.  But on the weekends I like to sleep in.  Once I get up, I usually fix a nice breakfast for the family and it's so easy to just skip my walk and go about my day.

I've been trying to set fitness goals for myself on the weekends to push myself to do more than I normally would. This weekend, I'm striving for a 30k step weekend.  I hit 20k steps today so I'm well on my way to my goal.

If I don't have a goal, I'm lucky if I get 10k steps over the weekend.  That's no good.

Are you a Fitbit user?  If so, which Fitbit do you have?

Find me on Fitbit.

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Hold The Phone

I don't know what it is about this week, but I just can't get it together.  This morning, I forgot my running belt when I headed out for my walk.  My capri pants didn't have any pockets so I had to carry my phone in my hand the entire three miles.

The good news is that I made it the entire three miles today.  By the end of the day, I had already met my step goal so I didn't have to get out and go for another walk. The weather has turned surprisingly cool here so it would have been a nice night for it.

 

I've had a big 'ol blister on my big toe for the last few days.  Today, it became too painful to wear shoes.  I poked some holes in it and drained it earlier.  Are you supposed to pop them?  I don't know, but I have a hard time not picking at things like that. I just hope it's better in the morning so that I can get my walk in.

Oh, by the way? That selfie that I added to this post? That is definitely not what I look like on my morning walks.  I usually have the worst bedhead and I'm a sweaty mess by the time I get back. I'm just sayin!


What do you do when you get a blister?  Pop or no pop?

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Mapping my Walks and Runs

Well, this day did not go as planned.  Does anyone else have days that just start off wrong and never get better?

I woke up about 10 minutes late and only got in a 2.73 mile walk this morning. My morning walks are dictated by time and not distance - I've need to be back home in time to get the kids ready to go.

My work day was fairly busy and I had to run an errand on my lunch break.  By this evening, I was still a little over 1000 steps from my step goal so I had to go hit the pavement to finish up.

I hit my 11,111 step goal after about a half mile, but it felt so good to get out where it was warm and stretch my legs that I just kept going.  I ended up going a total of 2.44 miles.

I use the MapMyRun iPhone app to track my walks or runs.  There is also a MapMyWalk app, but both apps work the same and the data from one is available in the other. I could use either or both, but I just chose MapMyRun app.  It tracks miles, duration, pace and estimated steps.  Looking at my stats and seeing how I'm improving motivates me to keep moving and keep improving.

It's a vicious cycle, but somebody's gotta do it.

Do you use MapMyRun or any other walk/run statistic apps?

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