Starting the Day With an 11-Minute Dance Break Workout

I decided to get some exercise in early today for Day 2 of my personal fitness project, instead of waiting till almost bedtime like I did yesterday, and that decision evolved into an 11-minute dance break fitness burst and a great mood.

11-Minute Dance Break Workout image courtesy of Pixabay

An 11-minute Dance Break Workout?

Do I think an 11-minute workout is going to get me to where I want to be as far as my fitness goals? No - not by itself. I do, however, think it was a great choice for a Day 2 workout, and an excellent addition to any total fitness plan.

Here's why:

• It was completely positive.
• It was fun - I picked a couple of my favorite upbeat songs.
• It was freestyle, and therefore, completely adaptable to my current physical condition.
• My blood was pumping, so to speak, and I started my day in a great mood.
• I can always throw in another fitness burst anytime during the day, so it may or may not be my only workout today.
• I started me day feeling like I accomplished my most important goal, doing something for my health.

The Details of This 11-Minute Dance Break Workout

You can do your workout in whatever way your body tells you, because everyone is at a different fitness level and the workout that got my heart thumping and my muscles burning might be child's play for someone more fit, and it might be too hard for someone less fit, but I want to share the basics of my dance break to give you an idea of how it goes.

• Timer: I set the stopwatch function in my phone so I could be sure I gave enough attention to warming up and cooling down.
• Warm up: I went with three minutes of stretching to warm up, manly upper body but also some waistline and leg muscles, because even a short workout can cause sore muscles or an exercise injury if you don't warm up first.
• Dance time: Uptown Funk was the first song I turned on to start my dance break, because I wanted to get my heart rate up, and, well, I LOVE that song. I added a lot of leg work, where I used my thigh muscles to get my heart rate up faster for the short workout. Then I switched to Waiting for a Girl like you to finish the dance break and ease into the cool down, because, well, I also LOVE that song, and the beat is great for transitioning between an active phase of your workout to a cool down.
• Cool down: I ended this short exercise session the same way I started it, stretching. Though, for cool down, I stretched deeper into my leg muscles, where at the start I focused more on upper body and waist stretches.

Now, I need to get myself a drink of water, and see what else this day brings. 

Thanks for joining me on the second day of this journey, what are you going to do for yourself today? Remember, you're ALWAYS welcome to share your thoughts in the comments.

Laure J

Dumbbells and Crunches: Day One

When I was younger, I loved aerobics, crunches and dumbbell workouts, and I also took a series of courses to become a certified personal trainer, but over the years, I let my enthusiasm for living a fit and healthy lifestyle get pushed aside, and now I'm writing this (hopefully motivational) blog as a 240-pound, size 22, peri-menopausal, overweight woman.

Dumbbells image courtesy of Pixabay

So, anyway, I'm back, looking at my past passion for fitness and exercise physiology and wondering what, other than my body, has changed over the years. 

A Flawed Approach to Fitness?

I never bought into the no pain - no gain line of thinking, because so many people give up after the first workout or two because of the pain, though I of course understand the breaking down and response of rebuilding stronger muscle part of the human body. 

So, I'm going to take myself through the process as I relearn how to become fitter and healthier - as a woman going through the menopausal phase of life - and I'm going to share a lot about that here in the coming year. 

Wherever possible, I through in sources from experts currently working in the field of fitness, and I'll enlist my doctor's assistance and share her inputs, too, though I will only directly quote her if she gives permission, of course.

Dumbbells and Crunches

First Workout of a New Fitness Regimen

So, for today, I was pretty busy with laundry and new year's cleaning and organizing, so I kept my first workout kind of light.

• Stretches: I started with a few minutes of yoga-type stretches to warm up my muscles and get ready for the harder part of my workout. 
• Dumbbells: I grabbed my 3-pound dumbbells and did 10 standing presses, 10 bicep curls on each arm, 10 toe-raises, 10-straight-arm lifts, 10 squats, and 10 tricep curls.
• Floor Work: I then dropped to my exercise mat and did 30 crunches. By this point, in spite of this being a light workout by my old standards, every muscle in my body was kind of burning, so I cooled off with some more yoga-like stretches.
• Hydration: I also drank extra water today, though I didn't track how much, and i haven't even started to look at my eating habits. 

(I have to admit, I'm a little nervous about this, and I feel kind of vulnerable just from including my weight and blouse size in this post, but I think without authenticity, I would be wasting your time and mine. I'll eventually probably add photos of me instead of exercise equipment, but for now, I'm still feeling embarrassed and shy, so this... openly sharing information... is my starting point.)

So... this was my first post about starting my journey to a healthier lifestyle as a 'mature' woman - I hope you'll follow along, and if you want to make healthy, positive changes in your own life, I hope you'll be inspired to join me. 

If you don't have dumbbells, don't worry, you can start with no dumbbells, or check out information on isometrics, and then you don't need actually need exercise equipment to get started anyway. 

Thanks for joining me on day one of my 2017 journey to a healthier, fitter lifestyle, and if you're ready to join me for real, I'll be back tomorrow and I look forward to your company. 

By: Laure_J

New Year... New Goals for Fat and Cranky

So, here it is... the first day of 2017. A new year always gets me thinking about my new goals, and my plans for my blogs and websites, and relationships, and my health.

Fat and Cranky 2017 Goals

I've decided, for this year, I'm going to mostly maintain my focus for Fat and Cranky, and keep it about the challenges of menopause, but I'm going to shift the focus just a bit to share with you about my own fitness (yeah, I'm feeling the 'fat' part of it today) journey as a menopausal, or maybe peri-menopausal woman (my doctor has never specifically given me a word for what phase of life I'm in), and make it a bit more personal, because I think it may be more helpful to you that way.

Would You Like to Guest Post on Fat and Cranky?

I'm also looking for guest posters, so if you want to share your story, please drop me a note or leave a comment. 

For today, I am going to just relax and get my breath, 2016 was... well... it was something.

I hope you'll drop in often, and I hope things I share here help and inspire you.

Laure

Happy New Year!

I just wanted to pop in and wish everyone a Happy New Year on behalf of Fat and Cranky!

I hope 2017 brings you peace, prosperity, and anything you want and need from your life.

Please check back often, and feel free to leave a comment anytime you feel inspired to do so.

All the best,

Laure