On Today's Plate: Goals Revisited

Hello everybody!! I know I haven't been updated because I've been a little bit busy...but not busy enough to stop with my daily exercise routine! Or to prepare savory healthy meals, which I will post soon :)

So March snuck up on me (hello),  and it's time to take a look at the goals I set for February...and you should do the same.

In case you forgot, or just don't want to scroll down, here are my goals:

- Drink more water: check! I carry my water with me at all times and refill it 

- Lose 5lbs by March: check! To my surprise, I actually lost 6.5 lbs!

- Study hard and train harder at Brazilian Jiu Jitsu: I started to train at the club that I used to train in last year again. It's been going rather well. 

- Sketch every day. no check :( I've kinda been slacking on this one. I did only one sketch for fun, the rest were for work purposes.

- Improve my posture. I think I've been improving it. I have a book on exercises to do in order to improve that posture! ...so check!

I think I managed to fulfill most of my goals, and I couldn't be happier! Especially that unexpected 6.5lb loss. Now would be a good time to set new goals. But, I think I'll post those tomorrow. 

Good night everybody (or good morning...it's morning somewhere!)

On Today's Plate: 4 Miles With A Side of An Awesome Core Workout

Double whammy! Posting twice today!

Today's workout consisted of running 4.5 miles and working on my core. For those who are new to fitness, this fitness blog explains in great detail (and really well) what the core is, and the muscles targeted when working it out.

I started out by running 3.25 miles (including a 2 minute warm up) at 6.0 mph on at an incline (I am not familiar with the incline percentiles, but...it was up 1.0). After running, I did 3 sets of 25 reps of the following exercises: crunches on an exercise ball, oblique crunches (on each side -- also on an exercise ball), cable crunches (with 75 lbs of resistance), and kick-out crunches. To do a proper kick-out, you should lie on the floor, face up, with your knees and hips bent at 90°. Extend (or "kick-out"...ha!) your legs out to about a 45° angle, keep it for a couple of seconds, and retract. Your hands should be placed to your side. After working on my core, I finished off with a 1.5 mile run (including a 2 minute cool-down) at 6.0 mph, also on an incline.

Remember, keep in mind your form when performing any type of exercise. Also remember to stretch before AND after your routine. And finally, if you have any questions, remember to ask a professional!