Happy Friday! I am really ready for the week to be over. What about you?! The weather is suppose to be beautiful this weekend in Colorado and it is Halloween weekend! Are you dressing up? We have a catering job this weekend and then will hand out candy on Monday, but I don’t think we are going to dress up. Maybe we’ll dress the pups up! What are your Halloween plans?!
Today’s Anything & Everything Friday I have a video of my pull-up progress, plus I’m talking about soreness vs injury and have a 15-minute HIIT workout that is perfect for busy days!
Pull-Ups:
I said a long time ago that I’d take a video of me doing pull-ups. Well my videographer, aka my husband, left the country so I never took one! Here it is… I am still working on building strength and want to be able to do more and more each time. Right now I am able to do four total, with a little help from my legs on the last one!
I set this as a goal a couple months ago and had 8 weeks to be able to do one full pull-up. Yes, I was strong, but not pull-up strong. By the time I was ready to show Jodi, my trainer, I was able to do TWO.
I didn’t realize how empowering it would be to do a full pull-up, let alone four! To be honest, I was nervous about setting that as a goal because I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to do one after 8 weeks. I put in a lot of time and effort to build the strength in my lats by training 3-4 days per week.
Now, I didn’t strictly train back. I would start my workout by doing my pull-up training including negatives, isometric holds, partial and full reps using a band. After I did 5-10 minutes of pull-up training, I would then go into my normal workout of whatever body part was training that day. Each day I trained I would try to do a full pull-up until I finally could complete one. I am continuing to train with isometric hold, band pull-ups, etc until I can hopefully do 8-10.
Halloween Costumes:
I mentioned this earlier, but I don’t have a plan for a Halloween costume this year. We aren’t going to any Halloween parties and we don’t usually dress up at home to hand out candy. Are you dressing up for Halloween? If so, what is your costume?
If you are suppose to dress up but haven’t quite nailed down what you’ll be, then check out these lists. There are ideas for whether you are in need of a couple costume or an idea for a group of people. If you enjoy dressing up your pet, then be sure to check out the pet costumes. Too cute!
Self.com – 15 Group Halloween Costumes You Can Do With Your Squad
Greatist.com – The 20 “Healthiest” Halloween Costumes
Self.com – 11 Couples Costumes You Can Buy Right Now for Halloween 2016
Tasting Table – The Most Adorable Food-Related Dog Costumes You’ll Ever See
Soreness vs Injury:
If you are lifting weights regularly and pushing yourself at the gym then you probably have experienced muscle soreness, tightness or stiffness in general. I’m with ya! I try to challenge myself in different ways at the gym and lately I’ve been using different lifting techniques. This leads to soreness and tightness! My hips usually take the brunt of it, especially when it comes to core exercises and training lower body (I’m working on releasing that tension while lifting, but it is difficult!). So what is the difference between being tight or sore and actually being injured? Injury is definitely something you need to be concerned about if you train with intensity.
Check out Self.com’s article by Amy Marturana How To Tell The Difference Between Muscle Soreness And An Injury. In short, soreness will leave you tender, achy or stiff, while an injury will usually lead to a sharp pain. Read the rest of the article for signs to look for and recommendations for when to seek treatment.
I am really conscious about possibly injuries, because I do not want to be laid up due to denial! I am too addicted to lifting to be out because I didn’t want to deal with something! Have you injured yourself exercising before?
Pineapple:
Fresh pineapple is a great snack or treat. Honestly, I can eat fresh pineapple until my mouth is sore from all the acid! I find it deliciously sweet. One thing I do not love is figuring out how to cut a damn pineapple! My mother-in-law sells Pampered Chef so they have a wonderful pineapple wedger that can help the process. The tool is convenient, but does leave a lot of the pineapple on the rind! I do not always want to waste that pineapple! So what do you do?
You find this easy how-to article from Greatist.com that shows you to easily prepare an entire pineapple in just a few easy steps! In fact, How To Cut A Pineapple In 5 Easy Steps breaks it down with lots of good pictures and instructions. Plus, you only need three things for this process and one of them is the actual fruit! Easy peasy. Do you enjoy eating pineapple?
15-Minute HIIT Workout:
Only have 15 minutes to get some exercise in? It IS possible to get a good workout in a short amount of time. I have not tried this particular plan, but looking at the exercises I can guess it gets your heart rate up in a hurry! Adam Rosante put together this 15-Minute HIIT Workout That’ll Build Strength – Fast for Greatist.com. Basically, set a timer for 15 minutes and then perform the exercises listed continually (in order) for the suggested number of repetitions until the timer goes off. Boom, done with a killer workout.
This workout can be done if you are in a time crunch or even just to change things up from your normal cardio or strength training routine. One of the best parts is that each move is body-weight driven, meaning you don’t have to be a gym (or have equipment with you) in order to do this workout! It would work great for vacations, busy days or days you don’t want to go to the gym.
Well that is it for Anything & Everything Friday! Have a great weekend and be safe if you are attending any Halloween parties.
