Simply arms!

Posted on February 22, 2013 by Malin

Last night Jonathan sent me a message saying that we were working upper body and doing wide grip pull-ups and that I should come prepared! Being exhausted from my run earlier that day I went to bed early and had a very good night sleep.

So I woke up to a wintry Chicago this morning and I had to get out on slippery roads finding a Starbucks, as we had no coffee at home. This was much appreciated by Freddie as neither of us function without our coffee. I should not complain even though I am done with the winter and only have had to shovel a few times this winter. Still it took me a good 45 minutes to clear the driveway and at the end of it my arms was feeling it and I had “this” arm day waiting for me over at the warehouse.

It was just Mrs. T and I today and I know that one of the other girls have a shoulder issue, so arm days is a no go for her. And for the rest if them, I don’t know where they were hanging but they were missed for sure.

We focused on slow muscular contractions today but the thing is that the other day when I was practicing hockey with Knut I did something to my lateral area and it really hurt when I was doing certain movements. I was a bit bummed as I couldn’t do the pull-up because I have set a goal that I will “enjoy” them by the end of the spring! But I was not crying over spilled milk and I found other movements to do instead

After class Jonathan thought it be a good idea for me to finish with 10 minutes on the rowing machine before I had to leave. I think it really made the trick because coming to the end of this session my arms was pumped.

Tomorrow morning Knut is playing for GOLD in the playoffs, in the Wolves Cup and being a hockey mom I am now, NOT to be messed with :)….GO WILMETTE BRAVES!!!

6.45 am

Posted on January 18, 2013 by Malin

Today the kids has only half day in school which means that my kindergarten who is normally doing 2 ½ hour a day is only going for an hour and 20 minutes, what’s the point?!! This is not too troubling for me because John is often very kind and let me come and see him on a different time, this morning at 6.45am. I find it refreshing to work out with different people just because it gives a different dynamic to your work out (I will admit, I don’t like working out with people who talk too much since they are slowing everything down). Today I had the pleasure to workout with two lovely ladies that was pushing for it as we were working abs and legs.

We kicked it off on time at 6.45 with launches, wall-sits and sprints…Good morning to you too!! As we moved on to our abs-workout we started with 20 leg raises, 20 crunches, 20 slow-climbers and 20 leg raises from a plank position and I have to say those the slow climbers look very silly but they are underestimated. At the end doing all this 4 exercises my abs where burning. We mixed the day up between legs, abs, and a bit of cardio on the rowing machine, bikes, squat-jumps, speed skaters and the dreaded jumping-launches. I always tell my children; “Things you don’t like to do or you are not good at are those that needs the most practice because as soon you’re getting good at them they become fun!”.

slowclimber

plank

Now it is time to get ready to pick up Mira from school…

A frigid run…

Posted on January 17, 2013 by Malin

When I dropped the kids off at the bus this morning it was so sunny and crisp outside so I decided that I was not going to go the gym today. I also had a bit more time then usually because I did not have to pick Mira up from school, so I thought I wait to let it get a little bit warmer outside before heading out. Meanwhile I thought I pay some attention to the house that I’ve been neglecting for the past few days. I do like to have a tidy house when the weekend comes around, I started the laundry machine and checked the temperature and it was still negative 4 degrees Celsius. But what can you do? It’s like that old saying in Swedish “There is no bad weather, only bad clothing” (Sound much better in Swedish). So I layered up put on my hat and gloves and went outside and started to run.

I decided that I would do a longer run than what I usual do so I didn’t push like I do on my regular run, but I still thought it went ok. I always use the “run-keeper app” on my phone so I can compare my runs, and now I have a good starting point for this new track. Apparently you use up to 15% more energy when you are running in cold weather, the reason for it is that the body needs to keep your body parts warm i.e. lips, cheeks, neck etc. so right there you have an extra reason for using what you have on the other side of your front door.

I also enjoy running outside so much more than on the treadmill, you meet people who is walking, running, rollerblading (not too many today) and when your eyes meet you have this implicit understanding “we are on the same kind of track, you and me”. When I made it home 46 minutes later the washing machines was done and ready for the next load.

This is why I pay him…

Posted on January 16, 2013 by Malin

This morning just when I was about the get ready to go the “wear house” gym Freddie told me he needed the car so he could to run some errands downtown. I was assessing the situation and I knew I could not take the bike because I would not make it back on time to pick Mira up from school. I quickly rang Mrs Tanya Brown who fortunately was just around the corner from my house. She is always in early which suits me just fine, so she gave me a ride and we had a good 15-2o minutes to warm up.

Malin pushup team circuit core Coming into this day I knew it was upper body and I was a bit disappointed that my triceps (or anything else) was not sorer from Monday. And I knew I really had to work super hard just to make sure I won’t be in the same situation tomorrow. The tempo was high from the start and John did not give us a lot of rest between exercises. He normally build them up into circuits with 3 to 4 different movements with a 30 second break till we have finished 3 executive sets but today he had us working constantly with no breaks till we were done. At the end of our second circuit I was doing 20 shoulder pushed and they were killing me. I asked John if I be better off going down in weight to finish them off as I thought I would not make it. The answer I got was “No! You do not have an option you’ll finish the 20 reps using the weight your started on, that’s why you pay me!”

When you think you are done and can’t lift anymore you need someone to drag that little bit extra out of you. That’s why I pay him!

Make yourself accountable not to fail!

Posted on January 16, 2013 by Malin

I think anyone who said they have never been on a diet and somehow failed is stretching the truth… that being said I do think a lot of people has great success stories as well. How many times have I not said to myself “I will start Monday morning”. Everything is going well and I am all excited about how “little” or how great I’ve been eating when Monday night hits and I am starving and craving for that chocolate not to mention the Swedish candy we store in the kitchen and think to myself; “One won’t hurt, I’ve done great today!”.

This time around I have really made a commitment. I’m telling all my friends what I am up to and I am so far getting great support, which also makes me stick to what I do. I don’t really weigh myself, I tend to go on the feeling of my clothes and the feeling I get looking at myself in the mirror, which is what’s important. In order to document my progress I have been on the scale and since I officially started this challenge I’ve lost a bit over a 3 lb. or about 1.5 kg. Last Friday I took pictures of how my body looks like and measured myself but it takes a bit of courage to post them, but they are coming…