Getting to the Core of It All

What a week! For the start of a new year, it sure felt like Christmas giving was still spilling over. I received my new Garmin 10 (thanks to the giveaway recently hosted by Another Mother Runner), my Polar FT60, and another order of Nuun

I had a solid week of workouts, and I managed to avoid the resolution crowds at the gym. A while back, Amazon ran a deal on the Jungle Gym XT. We have suspension straps at our gym, but only the trainers that are working are able to use them and they are a definite investment. If you follow me on Instagram I posted this, then I even took it out of the box Total progress already this year!

JungleGymBox

It’s pretty simple. Hang the straps over the door and close it. Adjust the straps to fit your frame & chosen exercise, and have at it.

Jungle Gym XT comes with:

Two Industrial suspension straps (8 feet each)
Two Integrated easy-wipe handles and Easy-In Foot CradlesTM
Two comfortable inline adjustment buckles
Two Non-scuff door anchors
Two Strap end adjustors
One Duro-LinkTM
One Instructional DVD with brochure
One Large, full color workout wall chart

I didn’t bust out the full DVD workout, but opted for a core workout:

JungleGymAbs

Planks: hold for 1 minute (or until failure)
Push ups: 1 minute (or until you fall on your face)
Pikes: 1 minute
Mountain Climbers: 1 minute

I spent some time playing with variations on the mountain climbers (both legs in & out, alternating legs) and the pikes (hip height and time I held & lowered my hips), so I didn’t track an exact circuit or number of sets. I also spent some time trying to figure out my camera (yeah, one of those goals to get more comfortable in my own skin). Note: One of the hardest parts of the workout was setting the timer and getting back to the other side of the room and ready before the camera started snapping pics!

It took some playing to get the right angle to get myself in the full frame, but I was glad to have a visual. I’m glad these straps are only used under supervision of a personal trainer (which I am not – yet!) because it’s easy to execute these exercises with poor form and possibly injure yourself.

knees

I think this was the first pike that I did. The bootay doesn’t need to be this high in order to engage the abs, and I was starting to round my back a bit. I am itching to have my shoulder back 100% so I can give CrossFit a go already! A handstand is totally in my future, right?

I’ll spare you the 35 other photos, but I’m really digging these. This is the year of no excuses, so even a late night at the office is no reason to get in a good workout. The straps are adjustable and even if you’re a newbie, the wall chart offers plenty of options to help you get a full body workout – all of which are going to force you to use your core. I have a long way to go, but this was a great boost knowing that I am stronger than I expected (I didn’t land on my face once). It doesn’t beat the motivation of being at the gym and trying to outlift and outlast the peeps around me – yes, I am that girl – but it didn’t leave me feeling like I short changed myself, either.

I’ll be making more use of this system in the near future because I know the root of many of my running injuries and issues last year came from having a weak core. Still, I am loving getting back to a consistent running schedule. This Sunday will be my first (non-virtual) road race for the year. I scored a deal on this a few weeks back, and since it lines up well with where my mileage should be for Tinkerbell later this month, I couldn’t resist.

Sad to say, but the last time I ran 9 miles was early December, or that’s what Daily Mile tells me. It feels like it’s been much longer than that. Yeah, definitely not anywhere near race ready for Tinkerbell. Getting sick and having the house fall apart completely threw my schedule off for the end of the year. I have a lot on the race calendar, so my only “goal” was to make it to Disney and enjoy the run. I’ve had my outfit for a year now, so at least my priorities are in order, right? Today will be just a short run through Balboa Park, then more planning ~~and scheming~~ for the week ahead.

Have you tried any new fitness exercises lately? Are there any you want to try but are too afraid to?