Home Workouts!

OK folks, so I've already admitted that I like working out at the gym as much as I like Brussels sprouts; however, I am really starting to enjoy Brussels sprouts. We had them in Ohio last week while visiting our friends Aaron and Regina and I actually bought some this week to cook! SHOCKING. I'll post how they are later this week. Anyways, I've really started to get into working out in my home gym in the garage. In an earlier post, I mentioned we have an elliptical and bowflex purchased off Craigslist (great finds) and I bought a 10 lb. kettle bell from TJMaxx for $12. Best $12 spent.  This workout excitement comes at a great time - grad school will be finished in two weeks! I can't wait to tone up and get stronger.

So the last few workouts I've done have involved 30 mins on the elliptical and some form of kettle bell workout - a.k.a. me scrolling through my Pinterest page to find the billions of workouts I've saved.  I found I was wasting so much time but I couldn't remember a good sequence to all the kettle bell "moves" I was trying out. Since I'm a teacher, of course I had chart paper and chart markers in the garage...so I stopped and wrote out a sequence of moves compiled from a bunch of workouts. Y'all. This kicked my butt. I am still sore and I did it on Sunday afternoon but it feels so good!

I hope this motivates you to get up and MOVE!

Home Workout

• Warm-up/stretch
• 30 mins cardio (elliptical, jogging, running, run/walk, brisk walk, any combination - use what you have)
• Kettle bell series of moves (see chart and explanations in the photo below) 
• Crunches after every set of kettle bell moves 
• Drink lots of water and stretch when you finish. My dad said stretch like Cal Ripken - he never suffered any serious injuries b/c he stretched before and after playing baseball.

Before anyone starts throwing tomatoes and writing slanderous statements in the comments, YES...I spelled kettle bell wrong and YES I'm a teacher. I never claimed to be the Scripps National Spelling Bee champion.  I was excited to write it all down - my bad. 

10/10 means 10 on each side 

• 10/10 Single arm row: in lunge position, raise kettle bell up to shoulder level and back down
• 20 Single arm swings: regular kettle bell swing but with one hand, switching at the lowest point
• Triangle tippers: legs more than shoulder-width apart, right arm straight up with kettle bell (triangle). Slowly reach left hand down to left ankle, coming up to triangle position each time. 10 each side. 
• 15 squat thrusters: Holding kettle bell, squat all the way to the ground and raise back up with the kettle bell straight over your head (like a pencil). Repeat.15.times.and.feel.the.burn.
• 10/10 around body pass: swing kettle bell around your body, switching hands. 10 in each direction.
• 10/10 split lunges: 10 with each leg in front while holding kettle bell
• 20 regular swings (my fave) 
• 8 sets of 8 crunches (or more) I do sets of 8 b/c it matches the timing in my workout music. Use yoga mats if you're on concrete. 

Again, best $12 I've spent. I love this thing!