Slowly but surely I am continuing to post about my cross training endeavors. I am embarrassed to admit that I am not cross training nearly as much as I had wanted to. It’s frustrating because if I had been diligent about my workouts, then I would already be seeing results, but it’s better to start late than never.
I broke my left arm in 4th grade, and since then my muscles have always been a little…lopsided. It’s funny more than anything, but I still like to strength train to even them out a bit more. Here are my Before pictures—try to keep your snickers to yourself.
Nothing to write home about, but it exists
I’d like to tell you that my left bicep is just camera-shy, but you and I both know that’s not the case
I don’t officially belong to a gym, so the majority of my workouts happen in the comfort of my home. Here’s a sample of what I do:
Planking with Moose
Planking I started planking last year when my family and I got into the #plankaday challenge on Twitter. My dad, sister, Zack, and I used to compete every day to see who could hold a plank the longest—that game ended when my dad held a 9-minute plank on his birthday. And people wonder where I get my craziness from. Planking strengthens your core, which is important for a runner. Strong core=better form. Plus, hopefully planking will help me with Operation Abs and Arms (aka Tanya gets a six-pack).
Planking is pretty much the best easy workout ever
Tricep dips also make me think of a chocolate-dipped cone…
Push Ups and Tricep Dips I have been trying to take a friend’s recommendation and dropping to the floor to do push ups and tricep dips whenever I have a few extra seconds while cooking (when I remember, that is). I’m great at dips (sing with me now—”When I dip, you dip, we dip”) but I suck at push ups. Last spring I was dedicated and worked my arms daily, and by May it showed.
Doesn’t everyone pump iron while drinking? – May 2012
I also like to add free weights into my workout rotation. I use 12 lb weights and do the following (I haven’t a clue what most of this is called):
Behind-the-head tricep thing
Straight arm raise thing
Arms to the side thing
Lack-of-bicep curls
I do a rotation of the exercises above mixed with weighted squats and lunges x3.
Struggling to raise my chin above the bar…once
Pull ups Our pull up bar is on the doorway directly across from our bedroom, so it’s always in my line of vision. I usually wander over, do a pull up, pant, do a chin up, and wander away. I can’t do a dead-hang and lift myself over the bar—yet—so I do a little hop to help get some height. Cheating? Probably. But it counts in my book!
What workouts do you do at home?
All In Stride | Blogging and running my way through life. 
Love the home gym! I will be glad when I can get back to something upper body.
You’ll be kickboxing again in no time Gabe!
I usually try to go through this kettlebell circuit once or twice a week. It’s challenging. http://www.primallyinspired.com/tuesday-training-the-skinny-on-kettlebells-and-a-super-fast-super-amazing-kettlebell-routine/
I have to try this, thanks Clair! I have a kettlebell that collects dust…
Re-purpose it as a door stop?
I have a pull-up bar, but there’s only one door in our house that it actually fits on (we have weird doors). It’s out of the way, and so I don’t use it as much as I’d like to. Besides using that occasionally, I don’t really do anything around the house. I should. And I want to. But I don’t.
And there’s no way I’d put a picture of my biceps up on my blog. All of my strength is in my legs. I used to throw bags for an airline (and yes, I do mean “throw”), but since I left that job I’ve lost most of my arm strength.
I hear you Jesse, the pull up bar is right in front of my face and I still don’t use it as much as I’d like to. Running takes up so much time and energy, when I get home I tend to fall onto the couch and not move for the rest of the night.
I was hesitant to post the pictures of my arms, but my hope is to re-post in a month or two and then take admission for the gun show. I kid. I’m even more leery of posting a picture of my ab-less stomach, but I may do that too for accountability… Throwing bags sounds like fun! And exhausting. What happened if you missed?
I’d prefer to refrain from commenting on what happens if you “miss” when throwing a bag. Let’s just say that it wasn’t uncommon to hear “Ooops! Glad it’s not my bag!”
Ha! Makes me happy that I don’t check bags 😉
As an added bonus tip for your next flight, ALWAYS close the lid on the toilet before flushing it. Depending on the type of aircraft, some use a vacuum system (good), others recirculate the blue juice (bad). The latter of the two really does recirculate everything that enters into the toilet. So unless you’re the first person to use the lavatory after it has been serviced, the blue juice that you see, isn’t just blue juice. To keep the system from getting clogged, there’s what we affectionately called the “turd grinder.”
Want to know anything else about airplanes? 🙂