Have Weights, Will Work Out

When I am not doing Cross-Fit at work twice a week, I have to supplement and be active at home.  I bought a yoga mat, not with the intention of doing yoga, but with the intention of not sweating into my apartment's carpet.  But I'd be lying if I said a little yoga wasn't happening here or there.  One of the best investments I have made for my body and health is the purchase of adjustable dumbbells.  Each has enough plates to go up to 52 lbs (which I am nowhere near).

When I work out at home I always try to combine cardio and strength because you will see results fastest by doing both.  My little "gym" consists of my yoga mat, my dumbbells, and my trusty Nalgene bottle with a splash guard.  Good ol' gravity does the rest for me.

Tonight was my home workout night and I did 2 different parts.

Warm-Up:

Invisible jump rope for 2.5 minutes

Part 1: 8 minutes

20 lb dumbbell in each hand

4 reps/minute with the rest of the minute to rest.  8 rounds (minutes) total

Start off by doing a hang clean and then dropping back down into a squat.

(here's a good video to show you if you don't know what a Dumbbell Hang Clean is)

Part 2: 

7 minutes of max reps possible of the round
1 round= 5 burpees+ 10 kettlebell swings (you can use a dumbbell!)

Cool down:
jog in place for 2 minutes and stretch it out

Just because it sounds simple doesn't mean it is easy.  You can DO this!  If I can, you certainly can.  Be strong, be brave, and love yourself!  You got this!!

Making due

Today was filled with laughter, love, and amazing Salvadorian food.  The boyfriend, T, and I are out of town visiting T's parents and tonight we went to his Tio's house for a birthday party.  And when Salvadorian's get together you can guarantee dancing, laughter, loud stories, more dancing, and foooood.  So much food.  Pupusas, curtido, yucca, frijoles, coffee, platano, y mas.  It. is. so. darn. delicious. (below is a picture of a few of the women making pupusas.  Mmmmmmm.

But when you are watching what you eat very, very, very closely and when you are trying to make active change in your life, it makes a person feel guilty for partaking.  So today I worked out three times as hard to justify eating the oh-so-good but oh-so-bad food.  With us being out of town, I didn't have my usual weights and had to settle for using a small guitar amp (15 lbs or so).  Below I jotted down my routine I was going to do.  I pulled up an online stop watch and did the maximum amount of repetitions for the time allotted.  My initial plan was to make it through this and call it good.  When I remembered what was going to be at the party, I decided to do 3 rounds of the circuit.  Ouch?  Ouch.  But YAY!

One of the Tias has been struggling with her weight since her thyroid has gone out (hypothyroidism! uy!) and she said she is struggling because she has been eating healthy and walking the dog after work and she's just not seeing changes.  I had to break it down for her kindly that walking alone will not do it.  Walking is good for you and it is a start in the right direction, but until you put in sweat equity, results will not be drastic.  Drastic results will require drastic actions.  I'm not saying crash diet or go to a boot-camp and then expect to stay that way once you stop doing what you are doing.  What I am saying is find a really healthy, clean, lifestyle to live and live it!  Let it stick.  Let it become your new way of functioning.  You CAN do this.  I can do this.  I still struggle and slip up.  But I am making an active, sweaty effort to change my life and it feels sooooo good.

What are some of the ways you are making an active effort to change your life?  I'll take all ideas- because who Doesn't like to see their life get better??