"Video Stars Killed the Gym Stars"

Hello,

It is finally Friday. I thoroughly love Fridays because it means the week has finally come to a close and that there is always time for a workout. And this weekend sure calls for an intense workout.

All week my friends and I have been doing a video workout. And might I say it sure has been very difficult, but well worth it. Through the workouts I have been keeping tabs on some of my favorite exercises.

The first exercise that I enjoyed is called “tricep-dips”. How it is done is you first lie on your back and then lift your backside up so you are in a crab-like position. To make the exercise more difficult, put your hands the same direction your feet are facing. See image for more assistance. Bend your elbows at an angle. Do three sets of twelve.

http://bit.ly/199ZaS1

Another exercise that I enjoyed was a burpee variation. You start in a stand up position with your hands above your head. Then crouch down in a plank position. Once you get in that position do four pushups. Then immediately transition into eight mountain climbers. Finally, stand up and repeat the whole process. Do three sets of 12.

The final exercise that I enjoyed which was the most painful is basically a squat. You start with your legs shoulder length apart and slightly bent. You then bend your knees and bring your elbows to your knees. Repeat. Do three sets of 12.

My favorite part of posting each week is finding an inspirational Bible verse. This week the exercise plan is very difficult and takes motivation so “The amount you give will determine the amount you get back” Luke 6:38. Keep this verse in mind in your daily workouts and as well as throughout the week.

God Bless.

Jamie

Lack of Motivation

Hello,

I am sure it has been a busy week for everyone…you and me both. Between school, clubs and homework I do not have a spare minute in my day. To be honest I have been lacking motivation to workout, which I am sure everyone has had those weeks. Which in reality means: I hardly worked out this week.

Finally this morning I got up the motivation to workout.  Since I was lacking motivation and felt like I was a fat whale (college changes people), I decided just to do a simple running workout this morning.

I started out on a simple 15 minute jog around campus to get me warmed up. It was a peaceful and humbling experience to see all of the green trees and the beautiful flowers, especially since today is the first day of fall.

I ended my tour of campus at the SRWC (known as the rec center on campus). I then decided to be productive and do the stair stepper for five minutes. It may not seem like a lot but stairs are DIFFICULT no matter the amount of time.

Next I decided to do my abs workout that was posted in the previous post. Let me tell you, after not doing the abs workout religiously…it gets rough.

Finally I ended with some peaceful stretching. I have learned from my 3 years of cross-country and track that if one doesn’t stretch there was no point of the workout. The stretches that I normally turn to are the butterfly and figure four leg stretches.

After I finished the stretches I left the gym feeling accomplished and slightly less whale-ish.

This week I turned to 2 Thessalonians 3:3 “The Lord is faithful; he will strengthen you”. I have been beating myself up about not working out as much as I should. But I am faithful that if I keep working out and staying focused on school and working out he will bring me right back to where I want to be. And most importantly he will bring me back to where I should be and where he wants me to be.

Have a blessed day,

Jamie

Gym Life

Hi,

I hope everyone had a fantastic weekend and is ready to start the new week off right! It again has been another busy week here at Washburn but that makes college life fun!

This week I still did my normal casual running, but I also focused on abs. When I do this workout I start on the treadmill and run about three miles. Then I go straight to the mats. From there I do a few quick stretches to get my abs ready for a doozy of a workout! I start off with front planks for a minute.  The front plank consists of getting in the push up position but on your forearms.

 Once I finish, I take a ten second break and move on to left and right side planks. They are all basically the same position except you turn your body so you are just laying on either your right or left arm. After I do a minute of each, I hop up and run a lap around the gym (which is a tenth of a mile). After I return back to the mats I begin my favorite exercise called the “suitcase”. In the video called  "Weighted Suitcase Crunches - www.LeanDream.com" from www.youtube.com you can see an effective way to do weighted crunches. I do four sets of 25 suitcases. 

In between each set I do a lap around the track. Again this ab workout might seem overwhelming and unrealistic at first.   But like I said in my previous post, you can adjust it to any time or interval amount that is manageable for you. Do whatever improves you as a runner.

The bible verse that spoke to me this week was Ecclesiastes 9:10.  “Whatever you do, do well”.  This verse stuck out at me this week because I am in college now and trying to fit everything into my day. And must I say it is very difficult. But this verse showed me that while I want to do everything perfect, it may not always turn out perfect. But “whatever I do” I will do it “well” if it is for Jesus.

Stay fit and God bless,

Jamie

Cooking the Frog

Hello!

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend! Well it sure was a busy week for me. This past week I had student elections, sorority recruitment and loads of homework. It has been crazy!

But the hardest part of my whole week was finding a time when I could fit a workout in.

One morning I decided to skip my workout and that just wasn’t a good idea. The next day I decided to turn to one of my old cross country/track workouts. This was a workout that we runners called “cooking the frog”. As a girl I honestly had no idea what the idea of “cooking the frog” entailed. I later learned that one of the hardest parts of cooking a frog is trying to keep it from jumping out of the pot.  In order to keep the frog happily swimming in the pot, one has to gradually increase the temperature of the water. So that is basically what this workout consists of.  In order to keep you happily exercising, you gradually increase your speed.   Before you know it you’ve picked up quite a bit of speed.

For my “cooking the frog”, I started out slowly by doing two laps around campus. Once I turned the corner and started on a new straight-a-way, I would increase my speed just a smidge. Since each side of campus is a tad over a half of a mile, I ran a total of about four miles. It was rough but I pulled through.  Like the frog, if I had started out with the heat turned up high in the beginning I would have probably given up and “jumped out”.  But by slowly increasing my speed I didn’t realize how fast I could really go!

In all honesty it was a very difficult workout. But if you are the type of person or college student that wants to increase their speed this is the work out for you! You can increase the speed as much or as little as you would like. Just do whatever makes you comfortable and a better runner.

Each week I am going to post a bible verse that helped me through a workout. This week I found 1 Corinthians 6:19-20. The verse states “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been purchased at a price. Therefore, glorify God in your body.” This verse was beneficial to me because I was struggling to find time in my week to workout. But after reading this verse it reminded me that I could always make time because in running I glorify Jesus. By running I am showing to the world that my body is not my “own” and instead I am using my body to glorify him and thank him for all the abilities he has given me!

I hope everyone has a wonderful week! Don’t forget that you can always make time to run because Jesus always makes time for you. 

Have a blessed week!

Jamie

P.S. Here are links to two other awesome bloggers. Check them out!

 http://mikayladouglas.blogspot.com/

http://myrealitytvreview.blogspot.com/