Day three of virtually no workout due to a semi-serious knee ache. I'm not thrilled, to say the least, but I also have to honor my body. But I still needed to do something. Obviously, I wasn't up for my scheduled boot camp workout (at this point, it looks like I might finish it next week instead of this week), but I knew I could create a mellow toning workout. Inspired, I asked Terry to take a few photos, which is much easier than writing a description of each move!
Easy on the Knees: Tone It Up (Core and Stabilization exercises)
I completed the following exercises in supersets as follows: 1-2-3; 4-5; 6-7; 8-9
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| 1. Crunches with legs at 90 degrees 3 x 25 |
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| 2. Crunches with legs extended 3 x 25 |
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| 3. Oblique crunches 3 x 25 each side |
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| 4. Push ups 3 x 10 |
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| Belly to the floor! |
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| 5. (3-part move) Kettlebell shoulder press with bicep curl Step 1 |
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| Step 2 (bicep curl) |
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| Step 3 (press) 3 x 10 each side |
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| 6. Standing side bends with Kettlebell |
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| 3 x 25 each side |
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| 7. Twisting crunches with Kettlebell (I don't have a medicine ball) 3 x 50 |
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| If you don't have a weight, a cat will work |
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| 8. 90-degree angle leg lifts (lift the knee and foot together) 3 x 30 each side |
9. Clams
3 x 30 each side
This workout didn't work up a sweat, but it got my muscles just fatigued enough to feel like I had done something. Some days that's all you can ask for, right?
On to dinner: a simple veggie pasta. I sauteed some zucchini and squash with a little olive oil and freshly ground pepper. I added spinach, let it wilt, and then added about a cup of marinara sauce, along with about 1/2 cup of wine. I let it all simmer for about 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, I boiled some pasta, and then I used the spinach trick to wilt more spinach. Have you seen this trick? Simply place the spinach in your colander before draining your pasta water. Your spinach wilts immediately!
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| The spinach trick! |
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| Veggie pasta - a favorite around here |
It was an easy dinner for a mellow night. We enjoyed some conversation and then finally watched Hugo, which was super cute but a little slow. The highlight of watching the movie was cuddling with my two favorite boys!
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| My other favorite boy took the photo. :-) |
And tomorrow's Friday! Hooray! We're having our friends Jenn and Justin over for dinner tomorrow night, and then the weekend is pretty open. We're super excited to slow down, take some time out for ourselves, and (hopefully) get some cardio in! Happy Friday!
Fish oil! (Am I sounding like a broken record? If yes, I do apologize - don't remember if this is a trick I have shared here before, but it's really a miracle what this stuff has done for my knees. Or linseed oil if you do not like/cannot tolerate the fish oil - not quite as effective, but better than nothing.)
ReplyDeleteUsing a cat as a weight is awesome! Love it!
ReplyDeleteGet better...make that knee love you again!