After about an hour of studying today, I suddenly felt inspired to apply some of my learning to a leg workout. The program I'm studying to prepare for my personal trainer certification exam, NASM, emphasizes the use of distinct phases to enhance any client's overall health. The first of these phases focuses on stabilization, which cultivates core muscles and balance. Starting with this phase enhances a person's overall ability to perform more advanced exercises and helps prevent injury.
So today I created a pretty tough lower body stabilization workout. Let me tell you--anything involving a back leg on a stability ball sure gives me a lesson in humility!
My legs are still a little shaky from that bad boy! You can increase difficulty with this workout by adding weight and/or reps to your sets. For information on how to do these exercises:
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| Stability Ball Squat (Source) |
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| One Leg Deadlifts (Source)
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| Split Squat (Source) |
Let me know what you think if you try it!
And now for today's eats:
7:00 am - Breakfast in my classroom, a pumpkin muffin and banana, plus TWO cups of tea (I was a real treat for my students--hyper teachers are more difficult to handle than hyper students)
10:30 am - Snack of an apple
1:15 pm - Lunch--er, half a lunch. I only get 30 minutes for lunch, which seems like plenty, but by the time students leave my classroom, I prep for the next period, I walk to the faculty lounge, and I put my lunch together, it's practically over. So I ate half of a whole wheat pita stuffed with eggplant hummus (from Trader Joe's), spinach, cucumber, and feta.
3:00 pm - Second lunch (the other half of that pita) plus carrots
7:30 pm - Dinner at home. I made spaghetti alla carbonara, which was delicious. Only a few ingredients for such a healthy, satisfying dinner. We enjoyed asparagus on the side.
And for dessert at 8:30 pm, a brownie and a scoop of pumpkin ice cream.
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I hope you're making it through the week! Just a few days until the weekend!
that workout looks AWESOME. simple and effective - the best kind. also i feel your pain on the half hour lunch! i never feel like i have time by the time i actually get to eating. i think i usually end up with about 10 minutes. it's hard to savor the meal when you are just trying to scarf down as much as possible!
ReplyDeleteI agree with Molly about that workout :D stability balls are the best thing ever! Brownies and pumpkin icecream sounds fab!
ReplyDeletestability balls can make such a great, cheap workout equipment. I want to bring mine to dc with me but sadly i always fly.
ReplyDeleteOh man, I can't do split squats for the LIFE of me! I mean, I can, but they also make me feel really shaky and weak. Probably a sign I need to keep doing them though!
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