<p>Abasket, not bad – mostly a little bit of color on the midriff from wearing the bikini.</p>
<p>It turned out using the Amphipod satellite pouch to carry cards and cash while running worked out well on my trip. Didn’t notice it at all for ~3.5 miles at a time. Might have been a different story if I’d tried to bring a cell phone along, but cinching the cord tight on the shorts and only putting in very light items, no problem. I clipped it on the back of the waistband. Kind of like a butterfly tattoo, only different, lol. ;)</p>
<p>Hope all you birthday girls are living it up this month!</p>
<p>Cinnamon buns are one of the things that I have tried to put out of my mind. When I was in college, a staple of the campus snack bar was a cinnamon roll, sliced in half, brushed with butter and grilled (like a grill cheese sandwich). Yum.</p>
<p>Fortunately, I’ve been able to cut down dramatically on my Dunkin Donuts stops while hiking by taking thermos bottles of coffee from home. One is still hot enough to drink on the drive home in the late afternoon. That removes the temptation of staring at the fresh coffee rolls. I resist, but it’s a temptation I don’t need.</p>
<p>Happy Birthday Sabaray and MOWC.
Ummm…Can’t even remember when I last had a cinnamon bun. Used to make them every Sunday for my boys. Now they’re all grown up and no more cinnamon buns…a good thing for all of us, I’m sure.</p>
<p>New 5K PR for me this week. 28:22</p>
<p>Left the house at 6:10 a.m. today and did 4 miles. Love the early morning runs when most of the world isn’t up and moving yet. Afterwards I did dips, planks and jumping jacks. Then off to work at the preschool. Nothing like half a day with 10 three year olds to burn some calories!</p>
<p>I split the Cinnabons with my husband. But it’s still a kajillion calories. (I think the box of four says it has seven servings - I sure would like to know how they came up with that!) I used to like Dunkin Donuts donuts, but the last one I had was just too sweet and the texture is not what it was, so I think I’ll actually be skipping them in the future. We’ll still stop for coffee there on long drives though and dh will get his donut fix - it’s the only place and time he eats them.</p>
<p>Happy birthday to those celebrating, mine isn’t until the weekend. :)</p>
<p>Back in the 80s when I did costuming, I would grab TWO of the full-size Cinnabons and have them for dinner at the theater. What the &^%$ was I thinking!?!?!?! Have not had one since 1990.</p>
<p>1.3 miles on elliptical this afternoon, am now off to do 2 miles walking with the 5k practice group. Whether I run any of it depends on how I am dealing witht eh heat/humidity. Today is the hottest it’s been in some time.</p>
<p>At least it won’t be 90 degrees in Scotland and Ireland!</p>
<p>Dropping into this thread for the first time in a long time, and I find people talking about Cinnabon! Oh, the humanity!</p>
<p>Anyway, the reason I am here is that I bought a treadmill and dropped my gym membership, so I need to put together some simple upper body exercises to take the place of the machines. (I think my lower body gets enough for now with 45-60 minutes on a treadmill with an incline interval program.) I can’t remember how to do any of the things with free weights I used to do years ago. Can anyone suggest a VERY basic set of things for arms, and possibly shoulders and back? And a source that shows how to do them correctly? </p>
<p>My other question is about weights. I really want to buy as little as possible. I think a 10 or 15 lb weight be a good basic size: do people agree? What about kettle bells? I’ve never used them. I really am not interested is stretch bands at this point.</p>
<p>Consolation, I do these upper body exercises at home with weights (8 lb dbs at this point for me – 12.5 lb db for the rows when I do them at the gym):</p>
<p>rows (first one arm, then the other for each set)
bicep curls (first one arm, then the other for each set)
tricep kickbacks (first one arm, then the other for each set)
military press (first set both arms, subsequent sets one arm held straight up while other does the press)
benchless bench press with dbs (both arms at same time)
fly (both arms at same time, naturally)</p>
<p>Here’s core stuff I do using the stability ball: deadbug, hamstring curls, pass, stir the pot, toe touches, and jackknife (these are not especially easy exercises…). There’s always planks, side planks, and hip raises.</p>
<p>Pushups (depending where you’re at with these you can start with hands on, say, counter or stairs to make it easier, or if you’re like BB and like making them harder, put feet up on the bed!). T-rotations, too.</p>
<p>Extra stuff for lower body: side lying clam, side leg raises, leg adduction, reverse lunges, squats.</p>
<p>Hex bar deadlifts
Single arm DB bench press*</p>
<p>Big gain today: Three sets of FIVE chinups instead of three sets of FOUR. Good solid chinups, no thrashing around. Chin to the bar. Really hard to make gains on these things. Going from 4 to 5 is a 25% increase in reps, which is a big step pn an exercise where it takes all of I’ve got to do the first one.</p>
<p>Man, I leave for a few hours and you all are eating cinnamon rolls or better yet , Cinnabon! My S adores Cinnabon - luckily there is not be locally but nice or twice a year we will split a little gooey ness. </p>
<p>Happy birthday in advance MOWC! Wish we could “gift” you and do a leg of your streak tomorrow!!</p>
<p>Ill keep the bday streak going late next week with mine…and a celebration of one full year since I started running!</p>
<p>My mouth is watering after reading the cinnamon roll comments. I can’t remember the last time I had one. I do have a good recipe, but it is filed deep in the recipe files. Anyway, happy birthday to you today, Saba, and tomorrow to MoWC! </p>
<p>Ouch NMinn. I hope the toe stops hurting sooner than later. My broken toe years ago ended my horseback riding days when I could not put a boot over the toe. what a pain. and Deborah T, your vacation time sounds fantastic. I hope the lobster hue fades quickly!</p>
<p>Mouth stitches out today. Yesterday I spent hours scrubbing floors (blisters on my kneels) and of course I have been keeping up with the walking. Tomorrow to Epcot for a visit with an old friend, lunch in Morocco, and maybe Friday I will try some weights. Can not wait!</p>
<p>The easiest way to think about upper body exercises is that you want to do a pulling exercise and a pushing exercise. If you cover those two bases, you can forget all the little exercises like flys and bicep curls and so forth.</p>
<p>The classic PUSHING exercise is the pushup and it should be regular staple of everyone’s workout. If you can’t do a full pushup on the floor, do it with your hands up on a raised surface (rather than doing them from the knees). As you get stronger, go to a lower surface and finally to the floor.</p>
<p>Another is the dumbbell bench press. You lie on a bench (or the floor) and push the weight up towards the ceiling, starting at around the rib cage. My favorite version is lying down, pushing both weights up towards the ceiling, then holding one extended while I do all the reps with the other arm. Then, hold that arm extended and do the reps with the other arm.</p>
<p>You can also do an overhead press, pressing one or two DBs from the shoulders to the ceiling. Standing, sitting, or kneeling on your knees. All are good variations. Two DBs, one DB, or alternating.</p>
<hr>
<p>Pulling exercises are harder to find. The classic is the chin up. Pretty tough to do, however. If you can find a suitable place to do them, [inverted</a> rows](<a href=“Inverted Rows - YouTube”>Inverted Rows - YouTube) are a great option. Just like pushups, start out with a high bar for easier exercise and move progressively lower as you get stronger.</p>
<p>My favorite pulling exercise with DBs is the [3-pt</a> row](<a href=“DB Row - YouTube”>DB Row - YouTube). It is very back friendly because the arm is supporting and stabilizing the back while you concentrate on lifting one DB. Really push to go heavy on this one.</p>
<p>A complete workout is a few sets of push, a few sets of pull, and something for the legs.</p>
<p>Good thing my 5k is in November. This heat & humidity is for the birds! Did 1400 meters tonight (plus 1.3 miles earlier in the afternoon) and had to stop. Got really dizzy. My cardiac meds keep my BP around 90/60 and if I get dehydrated, it drops even more. I never get that wrung out in cardiac rehab. Am also going to need to keep some fruit or carbs on hand.</p>
<p>Good thing I found out now vs. next week when I am hiking! I will be better prepared.</p>
<p>Take good care, CD…I wonder if those energy gel packs would be a good option?
It sounds totally counterproductive, but on my little snowshoe hikes up the hill I’ve found that sucking on a hard candy like a mint or ricola seems to help me in terms of energy and not getting too thirsty when I’m sweating extremely. On my short a.m. half-hour uphill hikes it seemed stupid to take water when I’d be back home in a few. However, now that I have the camelback, I my find I like it for winter hikes too. I didn’t get it until I got the bike. I discovered I’m nowhere near coordinated enough to handle a water bottle and steer :)</p>
<p>Consolation, this wouldn’t replace other upper body work, but have you tried those little strapped, cylinder hand-weights while walking on the treadmill? I seem to get a better burn for my buck when I swing them as if I’m Nordic walking or when jogging. I’ve also tried it with my ski poles, (walking not jogging) but its a bit awkward.</p>
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