Hello, friends!
As I said on my last post, I am doing a little 4 Week
Challenge for myself to focus on MY health and well being. Plus, it’s kind of fun! Last week I cleaned. A lot.
I did a bajillion dishes that I have been too lazy to clean and did some
spring cleaning all around my apartment.
I did TONS of laundry and vacuumed or swept every floor! It was so nice to come home after Easter with
my family to a nice, clean, inviting apartment!
I also made a sweet playlist, put together a wine bar all by myself, made
Easter-Eve dinner for my fam, and pampered myself by painting my toe
nails! And although I had a few rough
moments this weekend, I have really enjoyed setting these goals for myself this
week.
It’s so fulfilling when each goal
gets accomplished! This week, I am
looking forward to trying out some morning yoga, spring cleaning my closet,
doing a full cleaning job on my car, and doing some research to help me formulate
a new workout plan! Don’t forget to
check out my progress and daily reports for my challenge on Instagram
@itsahealthything!
Anyway, the real point of this post is to share with you an
ab/stretching circuit that I made up today that really gave me a good burn
after my run. I always try to end my workouts with abdominal exercises and stretching. That might be a quirk from track, but I just don't feel like my workout is complete without it! If you do this circuit by itself,
definitely feel free to go through the ab exercises more than once.
And I know some of the stretching exercises might not make
sense, but it is what we called them in track.
Most of them are good, dynamic hamstring stretches and the explanation
for each one is below the graphic!
Knee grab to chest:
Just like it sounds. Stand and
bend at the knee and hip, pulling your knee into your chest. You should feel a stretch in your
hamstring. Hold for a second, release,
and take a step before repeating with the opposite leg.
Ankle grab: Same idea
as the knee grab, but pull up on your ankle/foot. Your knee should naturally bend out to the
side of your body. While it is important
to pull your ankle high enough to get a good stretch, it is also important to
make sure you never pull your ankle above your knee.
Texas two-step: This
one is hard to explain. Stand with your left (back) leg bent and your right leg
in front of the left, relaxed, but straight, reach down and touch your toes on
your right foot. You should feel the
stretch in your right hamstring. Hold
for a second then take a step and repeat the movement with your left leg out
front. In track, we “jogged” the steps
between legs, which resulted in a “2 step” rhythm. I’m not sure where the “Texas” part came from……
T drill: Standing
with your weight on your left leg, reach forward to touch the ground, letting
your right leg rise behind you. Keep
both legs straight for this drill and try to keep them parallel to one
another. No swinging your right leg
across your body as you reach down. The
idea is that, when you touch the ground, your body should be in a “T”. Hold for a second, stand up again and take a
step before repeating with the other leg.
Are you noticing a trend with the steps in between?
High Kick: Just like
it sounds, standing upright, reach your arms straight out and alternate legs
trying to reach your hands. If that is
too high, hold your hands slightly lower.
If it is too low, hold your hands higher. Easy, huh?
Reverse Ankle Grab:
Stand straight up and lift your ankle to your butt while reaching back
to pull your ankle up. You will feel a
stretch in your quadriceps. Again, make
sure you keep your leg perpendicular to the ground and your ankle is in line
with your knee. Don’t let your knee
drift off to the side, as that can put unnecessary pressure on your knee. Hold for a second, release, take a step and
repeat with the other leg.
That’s all I have for today!
Enjoy!
Stay fit!
xoxo
