Let off some steam

O.k. so how many of us find ourselves angry sometimes? Not mad enough to really let go, but just fed up enough that you wanted, no, needed to let off a little bit of steam?

Know what? A little mean is good enough to power you through a nice brisk walk, a short run or a few sets on the weight bench. Your heartbeat is already racing so before you reach your boiling point, cut the offender some slack and head for the hills or drop and give me 20. Your heart will start to speed up but your mind will begin to calm down. This works much the same as counting to ten real slow but this time it's ten minutes.
As I rounded the corner tonight with my blonde braids loose and blowing behind me, a family of deer fled the scene. I probably looked more like a fierce lion on the attack than a harmless surburban dweller running laps. I found out tonight as I circled my dark block alone that I was only mad enough for four rounds. After that I was content. So this was a four-round anger management session. A bonus was that my cool-down jog shed a few slices of pepperoni pizza I had for dinner.

So, the next time you find yourself in a funk or just needing to take the edge off, don't resort to words or irrational behavior. Use your lungs instead to breathe in and out some night air and your energy to burn a few calories leaking over the edge of your plate.

Lunges, the real butt buster

We've talked a lot about running and cardio for our legs and bottom. We've even added in some squats. The next move I'd like for you to start incorporating is the lunge.

Lunges are great, but you have to make sure you're doing them correctly to maximize the results. With lunges (as with any exercise, but especially with lunges) you need to warm-up the muscles.

I hate that I negated emphasizing the warm-up phase before we began. I took it for granted, but warming-up is essential before you continue because the lunge will tax your legs and bottom especially if you haven't been doing them. For a quick warm-up, run in place or jog for about 2-5 minutes. Then stretch your arms and legs thoroughly. I'll give you a more extensive routine next week when we hit the track.

The Correct Way to Lunge

1. Start the lunge standing tall with your feet together.
2. Lift your right knee until your thigh is parallel to the floor (a high knee).
3. Step out with the right leg and down keeping your right knee bent.
4. Get close to the ground with your left knee but be very careful not to bang it or touch it to the ground. In this position your back should be straight with your chest lifted. Make sure you are not bending your torso over your knee.
5. Push off the ground with your left foot using the ball of the foot (area right under the toes) with as much force as you can. Make the movement a quick one.
6. Pull the left knee into the parallel position. At the point you should be back standing tall.
7. Repeat the above steps.

Complete a full set of 12-20 reps and 2-3 sets depending on your current exercise level. It is also important to cool down after these as well. Stretch the muscles in your legs when you have finished the workout.

For a more advanced exercise put dumbbells in each hand while lunging. Start with 2-5 pounds for beginners.

Break up that workout

Can't find a full 30-60 minute interval everyday to workout? Break up your workouts, then. Doing shorter workouts throughout the day will still add up to some serious calorie burn.

I usually wake up and after getting the kids started on brushing their teeth and breakfast, I grab a couple stairs or run my block a couple times. While we wait for the bus, I run back and forth on the sidewalk and get another 10 minutes in (there's a slight hill which is a bonus).

If I don't feel like running, I do side-step squats or high-knee jumping jacks in place. It's o.k., just wave to the cars as they pass by staring at you. After seeing you do this a couple weeks in a row you'll become a fixture and may even inspire them to get moving.

At about 11 am, I sprawl out for some crunches and push-ups. If a good song comes on while I'm working I take a 3-5 minute dance break! Love it!

If you work an 8-hour day, most times you get several breaks throughout the day. Use these times to get in some moving.

For your morning break, take a brisk walk outside or around the office if it's cold. Walk the stairs for 10-15 minutes for a good burn in the middle of the day. For your afternoon break, skip the coffee and grab a water bottle for another round of walking.

When you get home, defrost your dinner and do some microwave squats while you wait.

After dinner, go for a walk with your hubby or your kids.

The idea is to find a way to fit it into your routine. It is often times very challenging to carve out an half-hour or full hour of your day to devote to working out. On the days you can't, remember the 10 minutes here and there add up by the end of the day.

If you are doing 5-10 minutes, make it as intense as you can physically handle. The more intense the more calorie burn and muscle building you do. Each time you raise your heart rate, you continue burning calories even after you have stopped. If you can push it hard for a good 5-10 minutes you gain the advantage of burning calories for another couple minutes while you're resting.

Welcome to the gun show-Part II

O.k., it's been over two weeks since we started on our arms. That should be plenty of time for you to have gotten a good start on your push-ups. Don't stop what you're doing, but now it's time to move on.

Here's the next step: pull-ups and curls.

Pull-Ups

It will be hard if you don't have access to a gym or any equipment to get pull-ups in, but if you are at the playground with your kids, using the monkey bars is a great substitute. No doubt about it, pull-ups are hard because you are using all of your body weight and gravity as resistance. When you first begin, you probably won't be able to do a full one. Start out half way up if you need to and then use some help to complete the rest of it (like a bench or chair or step). Try to use as little help as possible. Pull-ups work the shoulders, triceps, and back muscles.

Set a goal. Try 5 to begin with. Do as many as you can without assistance and then complete the rest with some assistance. Eventually you will see gains where you will do two, then three and so on. Always remember to complete your full set. If you set a goal to do 5, then do 5.

Curls

It's also time to start adding some light weights. This is where the curls come it. Get a set of barbells (one for each hand). Use about 2-5 pounds if you've never lifted before. Standing with your feet shoulder width apart, place your arms so that your elbows rest just inside your sides. Lift the barbells one at a time without rocking to complete the motion. The only thing moving on this exercise is your forearm to pull up the weight. Use your body as an anchor so that the movement is correct and complete. These work the biceps. If done correctly you will start to see results in a couple weeks.

That's it. Complete 3 sets of 10 resting between the sets for about 1-2 minutes (in the future we'll start what is called a superset where there is no rest so enjoy the breather while you can).

Who said gardening was for the elderly?

O.k., today I can hardly move in any direction without feeling my body crying for mercy. I have been gingerly lowering myself to the seating position and standing up. My core hurts, my sides hurt, the tiny muscles under my underarms ache. I crossed my legs today in church and my quads screamed in protest. The back of neck hurts, shoot my fingertips hurt as I type this post.

Say it with me, "No pain, no gain!"

So what is the source of all this glorious agony? You can guess from the title, gardening (I also danced for 2 hours straight the night before at my sons' elementary school function). Yesterday we started on our new venture and it was truly a way to get moving. I've seen my elders spend hours in their gardens and people profess that it is a stress reliever. Well, either I'm doing it wrong or the only reason you don't stress is cause you can't. My stress muscles hurt!

We have bought a new construction since moving to the NC and the ground around our house is packed red clay. The yard, as a bonus, is filled with rocks hidden beneath the surface. As I attempted to plunge the shovel spade into the ground to make the first dent for the plot, my shovel stopped dead on top of one of these incognito rocks. I had to keep stabbing the earth around it to make any progress. After getting the first piece of ground to budge, it didn't prove any easier.

I managed to remove the top layer of grass from a plot about 9ft x 6ft. I recruited my four children to remove rocks and rake the turned over dirt as I shoveled and took belligerent stabs at the relentless clay. Ok now I know why farm families have so many children. My children, though, would starve or produce a very pitiful crop if our livelihood depended on it. They haphazardly raked the dirt and picked up rocks ever-so-often. Savannah found she preferred throwing the dirt at her brothers and jumping on the lid of the garbage can to the actual task at hand.

Matt joined me after he returned from Wal-Mart with our ten bags of top soil and Miracle Gro. Never hurts to add a miracle when I'm involved with plants. My thumb has been brown and withered in the past. Anyway after watching my children for about an hour I released them, even though I remember very vividly that this entire venture started when Max brought home the apple seeds from his lunch in November. He and the other kids have been bugging me non-stop about having a garden since the first leaves sprouted in our windowsill jar of dirt. Please--they ran to the front yard and happliy passed the shovel, rake and dream of that garden on to me and their father without so much as a glance backward.

Matt attacked the rest of the shoveling and I raked and squatted to remove rocks for another 3 and half hours. The process was bearable as I reminded myself of the great workout I had to be getting. It was only slightly marred as Matt started crazy talk about moving to a farm. He attempted to be somewhat serious until we finally finished digging and raking the ground. As the sun retreated and the natural light became more of a haze Matt was ready to quit, but I made us persevere until the last of the new soil was laid and raked and smoothed into place. He gave up talks of a farm after that.

That's my motto, though. Chug along until what you've set out to do is done (that and my attention span is short--had we stopped I would've lost the garden battle before it began).

So, today's get moving and food advice: buy a house with a crappy yard and: burn some calories and build some muscle, save some bucks in the fruit and vegetable aisles and eat healthier as you enjoy your future bounty.

Working out with your kids makes it fun

Looking at one of the fan photos posted to Get Moving Mom's fan page reminded me about the best way to get in a workout and be a great parent. Work out with your kids.

This is possible at every age. When they are infants, I mean you plop 'em, then you prop 'em in a front carrier and get moving. The added weight gives you a better workout and the babies love it. They get to be close to mom and go for the ride of their lives.

When they get older, they are able to get on the floor and crunch or climb on your back while you struggle through push-ups. Yesterday on our jog back from the bus stop, my five-year old daughter said, "Mommy. Carry me on your back while you run." At first, I looked at her cross-eyed then I thought about the great bun burner and went for it. I made it huffing and puffing to our mail box and slowly squatted to allow her to dismount and proceeded to fall out on the ground from exhaustion. It was fabulous. As soon as I hit the concrete my butt tightened like it used to after running the 400 meter dash. YES!

When you feel it like that, you know it's on. Yeah, you'll feel it in the morning, but it's not a good workout unless you break those muscles down. If you finish a workout and you can breathe normal, your legs and arms are barely misted and not shaking threatening to buckle under you--well in my opinion you haven't even had a workout.

My other favorite thing to do is to meet my kids outside and try to beat them at whatever it is they are doing. Everything they do usually involves running, jumping, spinning and throwing. The older they get the harder this gets, but that's the idea. Your kids will have a great time as they go from getting whipped by you to the day when they are whooping you. I used to leave them all in my dust and toy with their emotions as they grappled for me during our games. Now my thirteen-year old can beat me running and he is loving it--me, not so much. I'm not looking forward to the day I can no longer wrestle him to the ground and pin him easily. He is though and that makes it fun!

Welcome to the gun show!

O.k. y'all, I'm back. It's time to start our quest toward sculpted arms. I know everyone is waiting to get those nice chiseled triceps and biceps. So let's get moving.

Before we get into the exercises, let's talk about the difference in strength vs. appearance. There are different exercises and different ways to do these exercises in order to accomplish strength and appearance. I want to start off with making you strong first. Doing resistance training using your own body weight is a great way to start for beginners and not-so beginners as well. It's great muscle maintenance and something you can do anywhere-no gym required.

For appearance there are two types: toned and chiseled. For toning, you will need to do more reps with lighter weight (or less resistance). For the chiseled look, you will need less reps with more weight (more resistance).

Strength First

Before you all take off to the gym to tackle weights though let's talk about gaining strength first. There are many of you out there that can't even do a real push-up right now and that is the goal before you ever touch a set of weights. When you do graduate to weights, my recommendation will be for you to use free weights instead of machines. You'll gain way more strength and you'll see results faster. The range of motion on free weights can be greater also, working the full range of muscles in your arm (for tone). You can also isolate the same muscles to concentrate on appearance. I'll elaborate on this later.

Start at the beginning

So where do you start? Push-ups if you haven't already guessed. For my short stint at the army academy we never touched the weights and I have to admit I was the strongest I'd ever been at that time. (I've been stronger since :-)

When you start push-ups, I'd like for you to set a goal: 10, 20, 30, 50 in one set. Keep a journal. Document where you start. Maybe you can't do a full push-up, then start with your knees on the ground behind you, feet crossed at the ankles. Extend your body until your upper body is as parallel to the floor as it can be in this position.  Keeping your arms wide is a good way to start, but a more advanced level will have your hands in closer--preferably right under the shoulder blades. (Closer still if you're feeling strong.)

If even knee asistance feels impossible for you, try the wall version of the push up. Stand about a foot or two from the wall. Put your hands on the wall shoulder width apart and bend your elbows leaning into the wall and pushing back out til your arms are straight. Don't get discouraged you'll soon be on the floor with the rest of us.

For those of you who can do a real push-up (without knee assistance), do it. Even if you can only start with one, do it. Make sure your bottom isn't sagging or perched upward giving you the hilltop affect. Keep your body as straight as possible. Take it slow, down and up - pause, then again down and up. Complete three sets a day if possible. Make sure you give yourself ample amount of time between sets (doing the ab workout between sets is a good way to guage; give yourself about 10 minutes between the sets). You may need more time, but make sure you are able to complete the same amount in each set if possible. Add one more to each set if you can. This will help you get stronger and increase your reps in each set over time.

After each set stretch your arms good, this helps your muscles retain what you just did better. That's it the first step to those killer arms. I suggest you at least reach 20 push-ups in one set before moving on to weights.

Next we'll add the pull up and curls!