Sorry I have been MIA — June was a very busy month — both with work and the end of the school year. I finished out my Stephanie Huckabee rotation, I did a light/recovery week using Ellen Barrett’s workouts (a mix of her Studio, Crunch and the workouts she did for Fit TV), then, I finally started my Montenegro Method rotation. It took some tweaking, but I have ended up with a plan like this:
Day 1 — Montenegro Method Strength
Day 2 — Montenegro Method Endurance
Day 3 — Margaret Richard Strength
Day 4 — Run/Walk
Day 5 — Montenegro Method Strength
Day 6 — Montenegro Method Endurance
I also add on stretching, Pilates, and yoga.
So far, I’m enjoying the MM workouts! They are short (under 30 min) but really pack a lot into the time! At first I thought I would have to “double up” on the workouts in order to feel like I accomplished something but — nope — one session and I’m pretty good to go — with an add-on of Pilates, yoga or stretching. (more…)
I think all of us at Fit Fig & Friends were pretty busy last month — hence the lack of posts. For me it was the kids finishing school and Little League and end-of-school-year parties and all that sort of thing. School here ran until June 25th. Then last weekend we drove up to Niagara Falls to meet some friends and see the falls. Now we’re finally settling into our more relaxed summer schedule, though this past week was still pretty busy with appointments and to do lists.
I have also still not been 100% since my post weeks ago about being sick. It’s not like I’m still coughing or have any other terrible symptoms. I have just continued to have fevers every day with the occasional cold chills or headaches. It’s bizarre. Every time I think maybe it’s no big deal, maybe my body temperature is just permanently moved higher (my usual normal temperature is below normal, like 97-something degrees Fahrenheit), it spikes even higher — like a few minutes ago it read as 99.7 and a couple days ago it was up to 100 — and I feel extra crappy. Still not a high fever, but not exactly normal either. I came very close to calling my doctor this week, though I feel ridiculous having one stupid symptom of fever, but I was too busy taking my kids to doctors and appointments. Maybe next week. (more…)
Today is a busy one – I am volunteering at the book fair at my daughter’s school today – my “shifts” are the one right before school and the one after school. I am a big book person so I love being around the book fair. Of course, my daughter picked out some books and so did I. At the moment I’m really into reading young adult literature. It all started when I became nostalgic for some books I read as a teen/tween. I guess what started me thinking about them is watching my daughter’s reading take off – she is pretty well into chapter books these days which is amazing to me because she is only in first grade. The schools seem to push the reading a lot harder and earlier these days as I am pretty positive I was not reading chapter books in first grade. I suppose there are ups and downs to that. Anyway, my current read is an old favorite – Julie of the Wolves. I appreciate it a lot more as an adult than I did when I first read it as a “tween”. I picked up some more young adult literature for myself at the book fair and I’m looking forward to reading some new authors and finding books to share with my daughter when she is older.
Today I started thinking about rotations. I know many of us plan our workouts and design various “rotations” in which to alternate them. I get a lot of my inspiration to design my own rotations by reading about what others are doing, reading rotations that instructors put together for their various “systems”, and just generally having fun with trying to combine different workouts, instructors and styles. It is a bit like fitting together the pieces of a puzzle. Sometimes I’ll find a set rotation and add my own tweaks (as with Stephanie Huckabee’s rotation – I am following her 2-a-day plan, but adding on some additional workouts that I choose). Sometimes I’ll decide on a theme or instructor that I want to workout with for a set period of time. Sometimes I’ll come up with a “generic” rotation where I’ll have a category for the day, but allow myself to pick and choose the workout that fits my mood for the day within that category. It is a lot of fun for me to do this and keeps me motivated. After I finish up with Stephanie Huckabee’s rotation I plan to do the Montenegro Method workouts – not quite sure how I’ll put it together yet, but I have some ideas in mind and some time to plan it out since I still have a couple of weeks left in this rotation. In future posts I’ll be sure to include some of my past, present and future rotation ideas! (more…)
Sara invited me to post and Fig graciously allowed me to join up! I’m excited, fitness has been a passion for me all my life and I love to write up my impressions of the workouts I do.
A little about me – I’m a 40-something mother of one. Happily married with a dog, a cat and a bunny to round out the family. I work outside the home so I treasure my 5:00 a.m. workout time as it is my only “Me” time for the whole day usually! For example, right now, after a full day of work, I’m typing this while helping my daughter with her math project. It was pretty fun – we had to create a math game. She did a good job and actually did most of the work herself – including coming up with the concept and designing the board. Why didn’t we have homework like this when I was a kid?
I digress. I have been working out in some form or another since I was in high school. In those days, and through college I was a cardio hound – I ran and ran and ran some more. Didn’t do much strength training or any other cross training. In the early ’90′s I discovered the world of videos. I had a modest collection (it fit in a couple of shoe boxes!) until around 1998 or so when I discovered the FIRM. I actually borrowed the Tortoise and the Hare from the library on Thanksgiving weekend. After that, I was hooked and my collection (thanks also in part to the internet and sites like Videofitness.com) ballooned. I really have never taken a count of how many workout videos and DVDs I own. I think I would be embarrassed if I knew how many there were! I also have collected an array of equipment – BOSU, steps, various weights, stability balls, band, gadgets. We also have a treadmill and exercise bike – got those for DH, but he doesn’t use them often. (more…)
Fig’s Note: This post is from one of the new contributors to Fit Fig. I appreciate Celeste joining me to write content! I promise not to interrupt her every post – just wanted to introduce her this once.
Well, let me start by introducing myself. I’m Celeste, I am married to Tim. We live in Annapolis, Maryland. I work in the marine industry. I have 4 “kids” that I adore. They are of the 4 legged variety. We have 2 horses (Frank and Tonka) and 2 Dogs (Muttsey and Sara). (I’ll introduce them more next time.)
I saw Fig’s cry for help and I’d been thinking about doing this on my own….and how ironic that Fig would post a help sign.
I’ve been struggling with my weight all my life. I’ve been exercising since 1997, lost 107 pounds….and when I got divorced, I put on 20 pounds….then I found my hubby…and he can eat everything and not gain a pound, I gain 30….oye. So, right now, I’m trying to lose 50. I’ve been struggling with this for a couple years. I did really well for a while and then the economy tanked and well…a lot of things happened to our little family. But, I’m getting my rear in gear. (more…)
You may have noticed I was missing for a couple weeks or so. I got sick for about 10 days (weird random fever-causing virus) and didn’t work out much for over a week. Then when I got back into it I had such a busy week that I didn’t take time to post. But this week I am back. I decided to restart the Push phase of ChaLEAN Extreme last week — I love this heavy weightlifting after all, and I felt derailed a bit by my break. So now I’m starting my second week of Push. LOVE it.
As I continue on with the Push phase of ChaLEAN Extreme, this week looks a lot like last week. Why mess with a good thing? I am learning Amy Bento’s ASC3 (I think it came out right before I got pregnant so I didn’t do it much at the time) so that’s why I’m doing so much of it.
I got this set of ChaLEAN New Deluxe Accelerated Fat-Burning Workouts to use with ChaLEAN Extreme but haven’t used them at all. I just prefer to choose other cardio than the CLX cardio as I’m not fond of drills and that sort of thing. I’ve been doing step aerobics or kickboxing instead and I’ve been doing yoga or other flexibility training from other DVDs as well. Instead of going through the rigmarole of trying to return them or selling them, I thought I’d do a giveaway and pass them on to someone else who will appreciate them more.
Here is what is included on 3 discs:
Disc 1: Extreme Intervals
Disc 2: Lower Body Extreme Zone & Extreme Core Circuit
Disc 3: Dynamic Flow Yoga
To be in to win these discs, just comment below. Tell us if you have done ChaLEAN Extreme or if you’d like to do it. Tell us if you would use these just as single workouts or whether you’d incorporate them into a CLX rotation. (more…)
I’m still plugging away at the first circuit (called the Burn circuit) of ChaLEAN Extreme. I am finishing up week 3 and week 4 will start on Monday. I think that’s the last week and then I’ll start part 2, the Push circuit. I have really been enjoying these workouts and I love Chalene’s personality. She is such a cute little bundle of muscle and energy. She’s very good at the motivation aspect of the workouts. I also like that they aren’t very long–just something like 30-40 minutes each. That works well for my busy mom schedule.
Has anyone else who has done this program want to pop in and tell us how you liked it? I have some friends who got great results; maybe one of them will pop in and tell us about it. Otherwise, you can see one woman’s amazing before and after pictures by clicking on those links. One commenter on the after pic said she suspected the woman pictured had a tummy tuck as well–what do you think? I think that’s a possibility–that lose skin is hard to get rid of even if you lose the fat (take that from someone who’s had three big babies and who is considering a tummy tuck some day).
Speaking of babies, here’s what baby Cormac often does while I’m working out.
Tomorrow I’ll be starting an exciting new workout program called ChaLEAN Extreme by Chalene Johnson. Well, it’s new to me, anyway. A lot of my friends were doing it a year ago, but I was pregnant and didn’t want to do a heavy weights program at that time. So now I finally have it myself and I’m ready to go. I ordered it from BeachBody through my friend Jenn, who is a BeachBody coach — there’s a link for her over there on the right ——>.
It’s a 3-phase 12-week program, so that’s 4 weeks a phase (duh). Tomorrow I’ll start the first phase — Burn Circuit. It looks fun but tough. Not only do they have the weight workout DVDs but the program also came with a very helpful guidebook, a food guide, a DVD full of tips about form for the exercises and info about nutrition, etc., cardio and ab DVDs, a motivational CD, a resistance band, a thigh toner band, and a body fat tester thingey. I also ordered some bonus DVDs because I’m crazy like that. (more…)
We don’t claim to be fitness experts. We don’t dispense medical advice and we're not qualified to do so. We are also neither nutritionists nor personal trainers. We are just women on the journey to better fitness and a richer life. Please consult a doctor if you are starting a new exercise routine.
