Looking for Muscle

One of my goals for 2013 is to add more strength training and weight training to my routine. This week I did 3 days of strength training and 4 days of cardio. Nothing crazy, some simple weight routines of bicep curls, tricep extensions, chest press, chest fly, and shoulder press. I should note that I don't use any of the weight machines in the gym, I use the free weightsI added that to some body weight exercises of squats, lunges, calf raises, burpees, and pushups. Cardio hasn’t changed much, I ran 2 days and did spin 2 days. The other addition I’ve made back in to my life is the awesome JCore workouts. The 20 minute workouts still kick my butt and since they are body weight based I am hopeful they will add to my strength building.

Today (Friday) will be a rest/yoga day and tomorrow I’m planning on a longer training run of 5-5.5 miles. I am about a month away from my first race of 2013, the Virginia is for Lovers 14k!

I won’t be seeing Carly til the end of the month, so I’m going to be up in the air about how much Christmas weight was gained/lost for a few more weeks. I will have to focus on how my body feels and how my clothes are fitting. It does feel good to be eating back on a regulated, consistent plan. Also, I’m pretty overjoyed to not have any more cookies in my house! ;)

Here’s a workout I’ve done twice so far since New Years that has kicked my butt pretty hard. All you need is a jump rope, but you can “jump rope” mimicking the movement if you don’t have one.

No-Excuses Workout (from FitSugar)

Warmup: Do each move for 1 minute

-          High Knees

-          Jumping Jacks

-          Run in Place

-          Jump Rope

-          Skip in Place

Workout: Repeat each Circuit 3 times before moving to the next Circuit

Circuit 1: 20 Squats, 15 Squat Jumps, 10 Burpees

Circuit 2: 20 Mountain Climbers, 15 Push-Ups, 10 Bridges

Circuit 3: 20 Alternating Lunges, 15 Plié Squats, 10 Calf Raises

Core Work: Do each move for 1 minute

-          Russian Twist

-          Elbow Plank

-          Bicycle Crunches

-          Superman