Metabolic training day!

Chris worked me hard yesterday!  It was a fairly short workout but intense!  It consisted of 4 exercises, StairMaster  kettle ball swings, boxing, and the rowing machine.  He timed me out at about 2 minute intervals then gave me a short rest between sets.  I did about 4 sets of each.  When done, I was exhausted and soaked!  The main thing he did was attempt to keep my heart rate in the training zone.  Here I am laying on the mat attempting to give two thumbs up!  LOL!

Ann

Home Made Protein Bars!

We were out grocery shopping a couple weeks ago and picked up some protein bars to try.  These were one of the healthier bars on the market with no soy!  The downside was they were expensive at almost $3.00 per bar.  So we thought "We can make these!"  It took some trial and error but I think we hit on a recipe that is pretty good!  This recipe will make about 6 bars.  You can double or triple the recipe but I found that if you do you will need to adjust the "wet" ingredients a little by adding a touch more.  Here it is!

In one bowl mix the dry ingredients:

1/2 cup Oat Flour

1/2 cup Quick Oats

1/3 cup Xylitol Sweetener

Dash of Cinnamon

1/2 cup Chocolate Protein Whey

1/8th cup Cocoa

1/4 cup crushed Almonds

In another bowl add:

1/4 cup Organic Peanut Butter

1/8th cup Almond Milk

1/8th cup Unsweetened Apple Sauce

1 Tablespoon Vanilla

Put the wet ingredients in the microwave for appox 40 seconds, then wire wisk it until you have a good consistency.

Now add this mixture to the dry ingredients.  At first it's sticky and you will think it's too dry.  Don't add anymore liquid at this time!  Keep working it (I use my hand ) until it get solid and thick.  If it is still crumbly and not sticking together simply wet your hand a little and keep kneading the batter.  Don't add liquid directly to the bowl or it will get too wet.  When it's mixed and solid put on wax paper sprayed with cooking spray and flatten out to about a 1/2 inch thick rectangle.  Set in Refrigerator for about 30 min or so until firm.  Cut into squares and enjoy!

Metabolic Training!

Started my new training program this week!   Warmed up on the treadmill running for about 15 minutes then?

4 sets of the following averaging about 1 minute each with little to no rest in between exercises.  This is a great workout to get your heart rate up and burn serious fat in a short amount of time!

Here's some links to show each of the exercises:

Kettle Ball Swing:  http://www.crossfit.com/journal/library/25_04_kettlebell_swing.pdf

Medicine Ball Slam:    http://www.bodybuilding.com/exercises/detail/view/name/overhead-slam

Boxing:  http://www.sheknows.com/health-and-wellness/articles/967107/boxing-workouts-for-women

Step Jump:  http://vimeo.com/27088787

Squat with Over Head Dumbell Press:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sstIkY-BZSs

This only took about 25 minutes to comlete but I felt every minte of it and you will too!  As you progress you can either add exercises or do more sets.

Ann

Triathlon Endurance Training

My endurance for whatever reason is down from a few months ago so I've been trying to add more metabolic training to not only burn some fat but to build up endurance.  Yesterday I had a simple but effective workout:

10 minute cardio warm-up on the elliptical machine

5 sets of the following:

2 minutes boxing

1 min wall sit

30 seconds plank

30 seconds decline situps with medicine ball

On about set 4, I started to crash/bonk.  I took a short break then decided to push through.  Good and short workut that burns a lot of fat and helps with endurance.   

Ann

Chest Workout Day!

Had a great chest workout today! Since Chris's rotator cuff surgery, I can't do normal free bar bench presses, so I have to do them on the Smith Machine.  On my 4th set I was able to hit 120 pounds!  

Ann 

Swim Training

Had an opportunity to get to the pool to start training on my swim.  It's only been the second time I've been in a pool since September 1st so I felt the workout went pretty well considering.  I'm trying to get better form and become more streamline so if I have to do an event without a wetsuit I don't freak out.  After the holidays I will be hiring a swim coach to try and help me even more.  My goal is to get in the pool at least every other week if not every week.  The pool is about 30 min away which makes it difficult sometimes to get to.As you can see, my feet tend to go wide when I rotate and my arms are too wide through the stroke.

Ann

Chest Day!

Had a GREAT weight day today, hitting my Chest/Pecs hard!  Got up to 45LB plates (90Lbs total) on the Smith Machine Bench Press, 120Lbs on the Pec Deck, 35Lbs on Dumbbell Incline Press, and 50Lbs on the Cable Fly (Pic below).  

Ann