Yesterday inside, today outside.

Yesterday I exercised at the gym:

35 minutes on elliptical
Then strength training:

15 swings with 4kg medicine ball
15 squats with 4 kg medicine ball
repeat above 3 times

15 "girl" push-up with one hand resting on medicine ball (7 right, 8 left)
repeat 3 times

using a resistance band looped over bar:
30 seconds of "crawl": bend at waist, one leg in front of other and do the motion of swimming.
allow heart rate to recover and repeat above 3 times.

Then the worst of all: towel exercises.

I did this exercise on the 2nd or 3rd session with my trainer and I just about vomited.  It was then that I realized how very deconditioned I had become and I vowed never to feel that way again.

To do these, you need 2 towels and a slick surface.  A kitchen floor is perfect.

Sit on your  behind, stretching your legs out in front of you.  Place a towel under each heel of your shoes.  Now place your hands at your side, push up and bring your right knee up, then extend and repeat with your left leg.  Do this at a pretty decent pace for 30 seconds.  The goal is to go the whole thirty seconds so go at a pace that is challenging you but doesn't push your heart rate above 85%.   Repeat 3 times allowing your heart rate to come down to 65% in between each rep.  Eventually increase your time to 1 minute with 3 reps.

The other towel exercise I like is similar to a low running motion.  Put your body into a plank with your hand holding up your body.  Places towels under the toes of your shoes.  Now bring right knee to chest, extend,  repeat with left leg.  The key is to keep your bottom down.  Repeat as above increasing time to 1 minute as your endurance increases.

Today I did kettle bells outside.  I love love love exercising outside.  Something about the rays of sunshine, the sounds of rustling leaves and the chirping birds just renews my spirit.  Plus it's a change of pace.

I've been doing kettle bells for about a year but I still don't know the names of all the exercises.  I'll do the best I can here today but promise to sound more official next time!

10 one arm swings on each side
Repeat 3 times (60 swings total)

10 one arm swing and punch on each side
Repeat 3 times (60 total)

Swing kettle bell above head using both arm.  Straighten arms, keeping elbow close to ear.  Walk around court, or walk to the count of 60, letting arms drop at 30 and immediately lifting again for another 30.

Allow heart rate to come down to 65%.  Then:

Using both arms, swing kettle bell up to chest height while at the same time stepping forward with both legs.  Repeat 25 times, turn and go back starting with other leg.

Repeat kettle bell overhead walk and swinging walk 3 times.

Then, do "around the worlds".  Hold kettle bell on outside of handle.  Sing up and around back of head. Repeat from the opposite side.  Do 20 then repeat 3 times.

Then resting one hand on "ball" of kettle bell, do 15 push-ups, (7 on right, 8 on left).  Repeat 3 times.

Finally, do a 5 minute "snatch" rotation.  Do 5 snatches with R arm, 5 with L arm. Rest 15 seconds.  Repeat for a total of 5 minutes.  This will take your hear rate up to about 80-85% and keep it there.  Hard but feels oh so good.

Stretch. A lot. Seriously!