Cami's Week of Workouts

Happy Halloween!
I hope you all have a wonderful time seeing friends and families, chasing around cute kiddos in fluffy costumes, and stealing Halloween candy from the little ones. (I only steal the chocolate, I'm sure they don't even notice.)

I'm posting a typical workout week for me.

Monday - Treadmill sprints and lower body
Run - 2-4 miles, alternating between 7.0 and 10.0, 30-60 seconds each. I really love playing with buttons. I'll sprint at 10.0 then go down to 6.0 and put the incline up to 15. Or I'll start at 7.0 and up the speed .2 every fifteen seconds until I can't handle anymore. The real goal is to go really hard then ease off until you catch your breath and do it again. Interval work is one of the most effective ways to burn calories initially and keep burning over the next 24 hours.
Lower body circuit - 12-20 reps repeat through 3-4 times
Split lunges (I usually place my back foot on an exercise ball)
Box Jumps
Dead Lifts
Hamstring curls

Tuesday - Spin and upper body
Spin - I attend the spin class at my local gym or make up my own routine of sprints, hills, and jumps.
Upper Body - 3 sets of 10-12 reps
Seated Row
Pushup
Lat Pull-down
Lateral Raise
Biceps Curl
Triceps Dip
Plank

Wednesday - Run - 6-8 miles

Thursday - Spin and combo
Spin for 20-30 minutes
Circuit: 3 times through
Push 45-pound plate across gym floor and back
Lunges with weighted bar across gym floor and back (usually about 60 reps)
Single-arm bent-over row
Burpie with pushup

Friday - Treadmill sprints and combo
Run - 2-3 miles of sprints (again, I just play with the control. I try to do at least 6-8 60-second sprints)
3 sets of 10-12 reps:
Lunge forward onto a bench and back onto the floor
Overhead Press
Squat and leap towards ceiling
Incline biceps curl
Triceps Pull-down

Saturday - Long run - between 6 and 15 miles (length depends on if cute boys need me, which they usually do)

Like I said earlier this is a typical week, I try to change things as much as possible to challenge myself. If you have any questions, please let me know.

Insanity

Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Albert Einstein

Aha. I keep exercising intensely every morning and thoroughly enjoying my ice cream every afternoon. Is that why those five pounds just won't leave? Maybe Albert is trying to tell me something.

Crossfit Workout

Here's the first workout I have for our workout swap. Compliments of Abbie Anderson and Crossfit UAC.

Day #1
Run 1 mile
Static squat hold 30 seconds
run 1 mile
static squat hold 30 seconds
Run 1 mile
static squat hold 30 seconds

Day #2
4 rounds of:
30 lunges
20 pushups
10 burpees

Day #3
20 reps - 15 reps - 10 reps - 5 reps - 10 reps - 15 reps - 20 reps of:
Kettle bell swing (if you don't have a kettle bell, use a heavy hand weight)
Box jump
Situps

Day #4
3 minute workout - 1 minute rest - repeat 5 times
3 burpees
6 sumo high pull
9 box jumps

Day #5
4 minutes jump rope
10 minutes of:
1 dead lift
2 russian twist
3 dead lift
4 russian twist
continue upping numbers till time is up

Sounds like fun, eh? Let me know how you like it.

The Workout Swap

At the gym this morning a friend of mine said he wanted to follow me around and do my workout. I laughed and told him it would probably be more effective for both of us if we switched workouts. The conversation gave me an idea. Why not swap workouts? Our bodies adapt to the demands placed upon them quickly, that's one of the reasons we hit a workout or weight loss plateau. One of the best things we can do is change our workout schedule, routine, time, and intensity but I'm sure a lot of you are like me and settle into a comfortable rut. Here's what I suggest.

Let's each write down a week's worth of workouts and share them on the blog. You can post yours in the comment section or email it to me camichecketts(at)yahoo(dot)com and I will post them througout the week (if you email it you will get your very own blog post). Then for the next few weeks we could try several different schedules and workouts and report back on how it went. Feel free to share whatever workout you are currently doing. If you didn't create your workout, give credit to whoever did. Please also provide descriptions of the exercise, especially strength training.

So how about? Are any of you up for a workout swap?

Reading on the Workout

I love to read while I pound through the miles on the treadmill. Reading is the only way I can handle treadmill running, the stairmaster, or the elliptical for any extended length of time.
My favorite material is the LDS Conference talks in the Ensign. The talks are so intriguing and uplifting I lose track of time.
What about you? What keeps you entertained during a workout?

Healthy School Lunch Continued

The day after I posted my complaints on school lunch we received a flyer from the school. Dr. Heidi Wengreen, a friend of ours and a professor at Utah State University, has joined with Dr. Greg Madden and Sheryl Aguilar, to form the Food Dudes Program. They're offering more fruits and vegetables through the school lunch program and studying the children's choices and actual consumption of healthy foods.
We haven't ruled out corn dogs or chicken nuggets yet but at least the healthy options are increasing. Yeah!
If you can, encourage your school to check out the Food Dudes Program. I'm thrilled they're testing it at our school.
I feel guilty for being negative last post. So, let's focus on the positive this time. What has your school done to try to encourage healthy eating?

Healthy School Lunch?

My 9yo begs me every day to make home lunch. I usually try to make him a healthy lunch but some days it is just too crazy and he has to eat school lunch. I hated school lunch as a child but I'm always arguing with my boys that school lunch is tastier and healthier now (but my memory isn't always too reliable).

Next week is National School Lunch Week, "Let's Grow Healthy". My 9yo brought home the schedule of lunches for the week. As we reviewed the menu we both laughed and laughed. Four of the five days the main dish was grease - pizza, corn dogs, deep-fried chicken sandwich, and breaded beef patty. Some of the side dishes were nutritious but not all. My 9yo said, "They think that's healthy!"

We're not big deep-fried fans. Ice cream may be essential but you'd be hard-pressed to find corn dogs or chicken nuggets in our freezer (there's no room with all the ice cream). So I had to concede that my son only had to eat school lunch on spaghetti and meatballs day (guess I'll have to be more organized in the morning).

I've heard that for some children school lunch is the healthiest and most complete meal they eat all day. That's a bit disturbing when you look over the menus.

What are your thoughts? I know children enjoy deep-fried foods. Am I being too extreme to hope that they would be the exception rather than the rule at school lunch? How does your school lunch rate?