Shred Day 23: Workout Favorites, Backbends, and Yoga for Good Posture

I'm beginning to like my weight lifting days as much as my cardio days. The old me, before the bad knee got worse, didn't really focus on strength. I did a little at SurfSet and did some at home workouts like this one, but the Carb Cycling and Shred programs have really shown me what it means to lift weights.

Today's workout ---> 10 minute walking warm-up on the treadmill, upper and lower body strength training using dumbbells and machines (back, biceps, triceps, quads, hamstrings, glutes), 10 minute walking cool down on the treadmill.

There were a lot of exercises today, so I'm just going to share my favorites.

Upper body: I'm loving the whole row machine thing. It feels like it challenges my body differently than doing standing rows with dumbbells.

Lower body: I'm excited to see some progress in my left quad muscle after dedicating some solo time on the leg extensions.

It's National Yoga Month and Fit Approach is hosting a month long celebration featuring a different yoga pose each week. Last week it was side planks and this week it's bridges. After getting warmed up, I practiced my backbend poses because it feels so good to open everything up.

Side note: I have been living in my trekkie joggers (see them here). They're super comfy (like sweatpants) but have more style than a pair sweatpants. I actually got them to hike in, but have been lounging around in them in the hotel room and wearing them to breakfast.

Then I remembered this video with yoga poses to help improve your posture. The poses definitely make my upper body feel better!




My eats for feast day:

The main part of my lunch and dinner was quinoa and tuna. It's been a while since I made it, but it's really easy and one of my favorite meals.
Quinoa and Tuna Recipe:
1 cup cooked quinoa 2 cans tuna in water 2 tbsp Greek yogurt 1/2 cup shredded parmesan cheese
After cooking the quinoa, mix all the ingredients together. That's it. Super easy!

Have you embraced a new workout lately?
Do you like to wear sweatpants?

Workout Wednesday: Arms on Fire

PT for my knee will not start until I'm two weeks post-op, YIKES! That's a long time.

It didn't take long for me to remember that there is nothing wrong with my arms or abs and the wise words of Christine from TI Fitness, "You'll be a better runner with a strong upper body."

She's right. In "Run Better By Working Your Upper Body" from Runner's World, Nikki Kimball explains the importance of upper body strength.

"The best distance athletes don't just have impressive quads and glutes. They have muscular arms and shoulders that help them maintain speed throughout their races. When you run, your arms counterbalance the motion of your legs, resulting in saved energy. The swing of the arms helps propel the body forward so the lower body isn't doing all the work. And a strong upper body bolsters a runner's form when fatigue sets in."

Since I only own a pair of light hand weights, I thought about the arm workouts that had me near tears at Booty Barre. Those 10 minute strength sessions were about repetitions, not weight.

You may be looking at that set of exercises and thinking, serving tray? bowling? 

They really are exercises (I promise) and they look like this:

At then end of the first circuit, my arms were already feeling the burn. Each exercise got harder and harder to do.

Using my 2 pound weights, the whole workout took me about 15 minutes

and

my arms were on fire.



Do you prefer reps or weight?

This post is part of the Workout Wednesday link up hosted by 

Diatta, Sheila, Amanda and Heather