Monday Fun Day... Not!

I hate Monday's... Like with a passion!  I think my workouts hate Monday's as well!  It was extremely hard for me to get going this morning and I don't think I really ever did!  Here is what today's work out looked like...

• Elliptical - 30 minutes at level 10 resistance... For a total of 4 miles. *Usually I can get 5 miles in the 30 minutes I'm on there but like I said I was lagging this morning.*
• Weights-  This switches from day to day hitting different muscle groups.  Today we did a series of ab work and what Trainer Jeremy likes to call "Iron Mike's" (there's a meaning behind that name but I'll spare you the back story!) For the ab workout we used the bench ...

 Seat yourself on the edge of the bench and bring your legs up so that you're balanced on the bench.

Like this guy...

Now kick your legs in and out (count to 15)... feel the burn... oh yeah!  But we're not done!  Next, keeping our legs out we would raise them high, middle, and the very worst, low (don't touch the ground), then back to the middle.  Now open, close, open, close, one leg up and one leg down (like scissors), switch, switch again, switch again, and kick outs... 5 more. 

That's one set... we did 3 sets of these.

In between the ab sets we did what Trainer Jeremy calls "Iron Mike's."  Basically they're lunges with weights... and they really suck!  Today I used 10lb weights and Trainer Jeremy used 20's and we did 10 "Iron Mike's," took a quick rest (like grab a sip of water and get your butt back here) and hit the abs again.  We did 3 sets of these also.

•  Cardio Hell- I call it this because, really, there is no other way to describe this next portion of our workout!  Since one of the jump ropes went missing we've been using the medicine balls and doing my very favorite *said in a very sarcastic voice* Jump Squats... Yea!  For these I use the 10lb ball and Trainer Jeremy uses the 12lb one.  Here's how they go... Start down low with the ball at your chest like this chick here...

 Next... do as the name says and JUMP lifting the ball up over your head

kind of like she is here... just don't throw the ball, keep holding it!

Today we started with 8... then did 9 in the next set... and for the last set we did 10.  We have been known to get up to 20 of these bad boys at a time but like I said...

It's Monday and neither of us was really feeling it! 

In between our jump squat sets we did more sit-ups (20 holding the medicine balls) and went right into a push up set.  5 push ups, then hold at the top lifting one hand up to the ceiling and keeping one hand on the ground... then switch so the hand on the ground is up and the one that was up is on the ground.  Back to push up position and get ready for mountain climbers... counted off like this... 1, 2, 3..1.  1, 2, 3...2 all the way up to 10.  Back to push up position and 3 more push ups....

We did 2 sets of these between each set of jump squats.

•  Treadmill - This brings us to the end of the work out... Treadmill time.  Today I did just 10 minutes and an easy-for-me pace of 6.0 (or a 10 minute mile) finishing up today's mileage at 5 total.  Most days I get about 15 minutes on here and will change up the work out so that I don't get board... adding sprints, or bringing up the pace a little, or going at a really slow pace and bumping the incline up to a 15... If you think running is hard, try this... It's killer!

So there you have it... My Monday in the gym... We spend about an hour there... maybe more, depending on how many times the snooze button is hit!  I hope this helps give you all a glimpse into what my mornings are like and maybe helps give some ideas for you to change up your routine.  There are other things we do in there as well... Like the step ups onto the bench mentioned above with a 25lb weight plate held over my head... yeah, that's one of my favorites too!  I'll try and keep updating everyone on what my workouts are looking like... and maybe even be brave enough to bring my camera to get pictures of me actually doing the exercises (if I can get Trainer Jeremy to take the pictures, he's usually all business when it comes to gym time)!

On the weight loss front I'm still doing really well!  This morning I very cautiously stepped on the scale and was shocked to see that I was down another 3 lbs.  I'm not going to change my weight thing until I've held there for a few days... my body is crazy and will be down one day and up the next and after the week I've had with the kids on spring break I'm really having a hard time believing that I actually lost weight!  I was expecting a weight gain!  So keep tuning in to see if my little ticker over there actually goes down!