A blog about my life, fitness and fun! (...and maybe a few cat pictures...)

A blog about my life, fitness and fun! (...and maybe a few cat pictures...)

Sunday, April 13, 2014

Feeling Like A Champ & My Favorite Core Exercises!

When I got up Saturday morning, I felt so much better than I did on Friday! I was a champ! I cleaned the whole house, ran errands, got my last long run in before Boston... BOO-YAH! (Does anyone say that anymore?) Anyway, thank you all for your concerns but I think I kicked whatever was trying to bring me down to the curb. I hope you're all having a great weekend! Check in tomorrow for my complete wrap up. Now, on to today's post...


Since I haven’t been lifting lower body since January, I have been doing a lot more core work than normal. I use core as a “break” between sets when I’m lifting. I’d rather go bang out some bicycle crunches instead of just sit and chill between sets of pull ups. It ends up being more core work than I need to do, but it is at least attempting to fill the void I have from no lower body lifting.



My favorite core exercises are:

1.    Planks

2.    Bicycle crunches

3.    Stability Ball Pass

4.    Stability Ball Knee Tuck (Which I sadly can’t do yet… my knee still feels weird in that position.)


There are a lot of exercises I do when I’m lifting that make me really feel it in my core as well. Inverted rows are killer on my core, as well as push ups. I even feel it when I’m doing pull ups!


Do you have any core exercises you absolutely love? What am I missing?

How often do core exercises?

12 comments:

  1. I'm not sure "cool" people are using that saying anymore. lol! I'm kidding! I'm the queen of uncool so what would I know? My favorite core is v-ups and russian twists. Best of luck in Boston! I can't wait to read that recap! If you can believe it I've only run TWICE since my half marathon because of shin splints (assuming that's what it was). Starting Tuesday though I'm back to the beach doing interval runs. Leg seems to be holding up OK enough to try.

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    1. Man those shin splits put you through a lot! I am glad you can get back to intervals, I know you love beach running. Ooh I forgot about V-ups, they are so good! I see people doing Russian twists at the gym but I'm scared to try them because I don't know if I can balance. I should do a dry run at home first. :)

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  2. I am still a fan of 8 min abs (despite the corny music)....and planks of course. Meg, I'm freakin' out!!! I have a head cold. I woke up with it today. :( Will 8 days be enough to vanish this darn bug??? How did you recover so quickly?

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    1. Yes, you will recover. 8 days is a long time. Don't run tomorrow if you feel yucky... Take off work if you need the time to just relax! Teaching is hard because we have to talk and be "on" all day. Take the day if you need to! It will go way I'm sure. Have you ever had a head cold for more than a couple days??

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  3. Not really, but because Boston is so close and important, Murphy's law says this one may hang on like the death grip...lol

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    1. No no you will be fine, just take care of yourself and right now do what you need to do to get rid of the cold- even if it means laying on the couch all day. When you're at Boston, will you say "boy I am glad I ran those 4 miles earlier this week" or will you say "boy am I glad I have this head cold." Your body is READY FOR BOSTON. Do what you need to do and kick this cold. Everything else is READY. :) :) :) :)

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  4. I really love some of the core exercises from T25, but I have no clue what they're called. I'm sure that under the little layer of fat I have on my tummy, I DO have abs of steel! lol

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    1. I see infomercials for that at my gym and I always think of you :)

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  5. I really enjoy doing the Zumba Core video (is way harder than the class I took!); it gets me to work up a sweat and work out my abs in a fun way. Gets the cardio in, too! I'll sometimes do planks...and although they're HARD, I won't knock good old sit-ups!

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  6. I'm like you- I like to keep moving! I can only do 3 unassisted pull ups. I use the assisted pull up machine for the rest of my sets. I hope to bang out 4 one of these days!

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  7. Do it! Get on that unassisted machine. If you do them consistently you WILL get stronger and be able to do one without any help. It took me months and months... don't get discouraged. It's harder for women but WE CAN DO IT.

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