Life has been hectic and crazy busy! Finding the time and energy to update Chomp has been difficult. I thought with the end of summer, I would be back to a routine, but so far that has not been the case. I think it won't be until mid-October before things calm down. Not only that, I continue to deal with my neck/wrist issues... possibly a future post on my adventures with that!
Lucky for me, (and you since you are reading this!) its Sunday morning and I am being lazy. If you remember my post from a few months back about quitting the gym, I purchased a TRX. Well, in early September the kettlebells I had ordered finally arrived. I already had an 8kg (17.6 pounds). I purchased a 12 kg (26.4 pounds) and a 16kg (35.2 pounds).
Aren't they pretty and colorful!
Swing baby swing!
So my little home gym is basically complete. I can pretty much do everything I like to do in it. You can see my TRX is attached to the wall (ideally you want it on a ceiling in a space centered where you can anchor behind and in front.) This set up limits some of the movements I can do, but given that the TRX allows you to do hundreds of exercises, I'm not complaining.
As you can see, I don't have much space, but it works. My sister and I workout together sometimes and lately Ryan has been working out about once or twice a week with me too! You can see my foam roller tucked away in the corner by the couch too. Starting today I am doing the 21 day kettlebell swing program again. This time, however, I will not be doing 21 consecutive days of swings because the next two weeks I am away in Calgary. Don't think I'm backing down- I'll be at a dance workshop with one of the world's best belly dancers and it is going to be extremely challenging, so I'll give myself a kettlebell break!
Quitting the gym hasn't been easy. I had some weeks during the summer where I only worked out at home once. There are times where it is difficult to get motivated. The thing is, these same problems would come out if I had a gym membership too. At least with my home gym, I can workout and be showered and ready to go before I was even half way through my workout at the gym. Certainly not bored yet either. Besides my home workouts I also dance twice a week, go to Bikram and sometimes go boxing with Ryan. Not bored in the least!
Here are some of my favorite kettlebell and TRX moves: (remember that you don't need a kettlebell or a TRX to do these moves, its just the tools I use. Free weights or bodyweight moves also work!)
Kettlebell Goblet Squat
TRX Suspended Lunge
Kettlebell Turkish Get up (I have done these with as high as a 35 pound kettlebell! woo hoo! However, when starting, I would just do this without any weight and build up slowly. It takes practice because at first its an odd movement.)
Anyone else getting back into their exercise routine as summer winds down? What are you upto this fall- trying new classes, looking for new inspiration or just glad to be back to the usual routine? Let me know!
Happy Moving Everyone!
