Back to Work(ing out)

ready to work out

I may have been busy baking and blogging this past weekend, but unfortunately I wasn't able to get to the gym to work out for four days in a row.  Granted I could have worked out at home, or gone out for a quick run, and I did do a few sets of push ups and sit ups, but it definitely wasn't my usual.  The combination of a preschool field trip with my daughter, a soccer tournament with my son and a holiday weekend full of activities took up most of my time.  I tried to remind myself that it is good to give your body a break every once in awhile so that when you do go back to intense working out, you are "fresh". I just try not to do that more than once a month.

I took advantage of my time away from the gym by getting some much needed baking and cooking done, and catching up a bit on my sleep, if there is such a thing. I could always use more sleep, so not having anywhere to be late at night, or early in the morning was a nice break these past few days. Consequently, when the alarm went off at 5:15 am this morning, I may have been initially tired, but I was ready to go.

I started out my morning as usual with a soy milk and berry juice smoothie, followed at 7 am with my favorite Chocolate Pre-workout Breakfast Pudding and a side of fresh fruit.  I mixed it up the night before because I knew it was going to be a busy morning of house cleaning, child care and the usual rush off to school.  Surprisingly I was actually early today and got to the gym right as class was starting as opposed to a minute or two late.

This morning the class was a tire class, yes tires.  Basically a CrossFit style class using large construction vehicle tires to do a variety of hop up, run through, and push up moves. The class was only 20 minutes of activity but it was non stop and quite intense and definitely a great way to start off my day.  There was a spin class offered afterwards, but I was in a rush and as I have said before I do not like to do large amounts of cardio, or spend more than an hour working out at the gym at any given time. So I did my own routine after the tires class which took me about 20 minutes more.  In case you are interested, this is what I did:

50 GHD (CrossFit style) sit ups
25 dead lifts using a 35 pound kettle bell
50 walking lunges (25 each leg)

25 basic stomach crunches
12 crunches to the left
12 crunches to the right
25 dead lifts using two 20 pound kettle bells (increased the weight)
50 walking lunges

50 GHD sit ups
25 dead lifts using two 20 pound kettle bells
50 walking lunges

2 sets of 12 knee tucks using the seat of a rowing machine for my feet and holding my body in the push up position

3 sets of 12 lateral row arm exercises using 8 pound weights

stretch and shower!!!

It felt really good to workout again after a long weekend off and I am sure I am in no worse shape because I let my body rest a bit for once.  It was nice to relax with my family, eat lots of healthy meals and a few decadent treats and reset my mind and body for another busy week ahead.