To hot to squat...

Hair is up, workout clothes are on and the thermometer reads.....97 degrees!?  It is too hot to squat today.  So, what can I do instead?  Below are a few squat workouts that I found.  Too bad you can't gain the benefits of squatting while watching the videos!

If it were only this easy!

http://tribesports.com/challenges/30-day-squat-challenge

This challenge doesn't have a video...perhaps in the pursuit of a smaller behind, this would be a good option!

Shout out to a fellow teacher! Her videos are great, challenging, doable and will count toward my squat challenge.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YX-Y9ge86QE

September is quickly approaching.  My 180 day challenge is drawing near...let the research continue.

Where do I go from here...

Life is good now, have goldfish crackers, will travel.  It's easy to get in a hour walk, a morning workout and use nap time to squeeze in a quick video.  Once school starts again, it is a whole new normal.  My mission is to continue all of this summer fitness fun while working it into my crazy, scheduled school year reality.

Since I am being honest, I admit, I miss the rows of perfectly lined up equipment, the whirring sound of the stationary bikes and the random grunts of grown men who think the more noise they make while lifting the weights will produce bigger muscles.  I have to get over it though...where do I go from here? 

So, my new friend and workout researcher, Chris, led me to some videos worth checking out.  Thanks to my talk to with Chris, I have managed to exercise my spending habits. If nothing else, I will be prepared.  Hey, I have to leave behind the whirring and the grunting, so new tools are required...
Kettleball? Kettlebell......CHECK
Resistance Bands.....CHECK
hundreds of YouTube videos with and with questionable workout methods? CHECK and CHECK

One great resource he shared with me is Fitness Blender. Cool name, right?!  Here are just a few of the many videos I will be trying out...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nBFdBnIbZRo&noredirect=1 

Anything called a "Booty Blast" is worth a go..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ux4tzO6Uaxk

Get rid of the Treadmill..

 

What!?  Who tries to work out at home and gets rid of their treadmill? Yikes! My wonderful husband bought me this treadmill after I had my daughter, almost three years ago. Yes, I know what you are thinking...a treadmill, really?! In his defense, I asked for it, researched it, thought it was the best idea EVER.. It was good for a while but, after a chat with fitness Extraordinaire, Larissa, the treadmill is going on Craigslist and the quest for an elliptical begins. I could get into the facts and logistics of it all...thank you Livestrong.com (http://www.livestrongfitness.com/blog/elliptical-vs-treadmill/) but I'm going to be honest.  I am bored with it.  That whole going nowhere fast, or in my case, not so fast, is getting old.  Bonus, it is smaller than the treadmill which means more room for dolls, toys and other items that have nothing to do with losing my 3 year old baby weight.
Stay tuned, because now I need to learn how to use craigslist too....

The Journey Begins...

Welcome to my blog! I've decided to use this space to be as honest with myself as possible.  That is my disclaimer for all posts that follow!
This blog came about through an amazing workshop about Personalized Learning.  Who says teachers have the summer off? We were asked to think of a "burning question", research, and create a final product.
Burning Question:
What are some strategies that I can try to make working out at home effective and manageable?
The Journey:
Creating a blog to record my efforts (both successes and, let's call it what it is, lazy moments) To save information that I find useful (or not so useful) and to see if this journey leads me somewhere other than where I intend for it to go. 
The Goal:
180 days, a full school year, to learn and try new ways to get out of the gym mentality and use what I have to feel more like me again.

I'm beginning this journey in a bold way.  I'm learning to blog.  an "exercise" in patients..(As my tech guy husband runs for the hills)

I am a teacher, mother, step-mother and wife and at one point in my life gym member was on that list as well.  Bought a house, got a kid, learned that people like to eat dinner and have clean clothes, so the gym membership left as quickly as my abs disappeared. 
Feeling like I need to reclaim a part of my life that has been put on the back burner, this blog is a place for me to follow my own journey and practice what I do every day with my students and my child...accountability.  So, here we go....