No rope but stairs & a goal!
Yeah, so this morning I'm getting ready for work & have this great blasted idea. I'm going to finish 1/2 my makeup & then I have to run downstairs to get some clothes out of the dryer sooo while I'm down there I'm going to do some quick cardio with my jumprope. Maybe 400 jumps or so - enough to get my heart & lungs going & burn some fat in a short time. Excercising early in the morning is tough for me but it will give me so much extra time in the evening.I'm all psyched & then I get a knock on the door & the hubby tells me he took the clothes out of the dryer & brought them upstairs for me! Funny, he was doing it to be nice & he blew my plan - Bastard - tee-hee! So I'm thinking to myself - Ok, "Miss Personal Trainer" what would you suggest to someone you were training that had little equipment & little time for a quick alternative to say the treadmill (which I don't have at home) or the elliptical trainer (which I do have at home)? Stairs - I have stairs - I would suggest stairs! So, after I finished getting ready I ran the stairs about 8 times (up & back down counting as 1) & then a set of 15 good paced standing pushups on my dresser (low dresser not a high one). Enough to get the lungs & heart working.
Anyhow, I'm thinking I'm going to work that into my daily routine now for quick cardio every day. Studies have shown that even quick 10 minute intervals of cardio add up to fat loss. The study further suggest that if people with tight schedules can fit 3 - 10 minute bouts of cardio thus = 30 minutes total into their day they can burn equivalent amounts of fat as someone that works 30 minutes straight. Now, I'm not entirely confident that this is better than a good 45 minutes to an hour of good cardio but it is something & that's more (sadly) than the average American does. I figure I will test this theory by doing the quick 10 minute cardio every day plus whatever else I may do with my standard strength training.
So, today's total excercise was as follows:
8 running flights of stairs (up & down = 1 flight)
1 set 15 standing push-ups (good pace - enough to keep the lungs & heart pumping)
40 butt-squeezes (in the shower)
20 calf raises (along with butt-sqeezes)
2 sets of 10 Side Lunges
2 sets of 10 Hip Extensions
2 sets of 10 Pendulums
2 sets of 10 kick backs
That covers the workout. What did I eat you ask? (Ok, you didn't really ask but I'm going to tell you anyway!)
Today's Meals:
8AM: 1 cup Special K with 8 oz Milk
10:30AM: 1 String Cheese
11:20AM: Tuna Fish & Egg Sandwich on Whole Wheat Toast with 8oz. V8 Juice
2:30PM: 1 String Cheese
6:00PM: Chicken, Bacon Wrap with Provolone Cheese, Light Ranch Dressing, Baked Lays & 12oz Skim Milk
+ just under 80 ounces of water (80oz is my daily goal)
Alright, I'll stop boring you. This is more for me than you I guess. I do however dare anyone that reads this that's overweight or just not happy with their body/body image/or life in general to join in & excercise with me! Excercise is a great mind-lifter as well & is often suggested for people with depression. Try it!
Oh & btw - I lost 1/2 a pound last week (well maybe 1 pound - I'm allowing for fluctuations throughout the day ...)
posted by Openfields @ 11:14 PM
