Friend Friday: Fashion, Fitness, and Femininity

This week Katy decided to focus on a topic that I think we should all be thinking about more often, and that is fitness. For more of my commentary on this topic, or inspiration for the gym, read my Health & Fitness/Gymspiration posts.

She asked:

1. When you hear the word fitness what do you think?
2. Do you have a workout routine? What’s your favorite way to workout?
3. To you, what is the purpose of exercise?
4. Do you think it is possible to be feminine and still workout?
5. What do you think about the people who are workout obsessed? (You know those women and the gym who spend 4 hours working out and have more muscles than some men.)

Part 1—My fitness philosophy and regimen

Exercises

Some of the many exercises I do on a weekly basis include weighted single-leg deadlifts, squats, lunges, bicep curls, triceps extensions, lat pull downs, plié squats, leg raises, crunches, push-ups, side raises, upright rows, and many more. Bodybuilding.com has photos and details of all these exercises, organized by body part, if you’re interested.

Routine and Weights

I usually do a combination of two or three exercises in a set of three. I do between 10 and 20 repetitions per each exercise. For most exercises, I lift between 7.5 pounds and 50 pounds either using a machine, dumbbells, or a weighted bar. Some exercises (like standing rows or sitting squats) require double the weight since you are using both limbs or almost half your body. For those, I might use between 50 and 120 pounds or more.

An example of the combinations of exercises I perform: Using a 45-pound weight bar, deadlifts into standing bicep curls, 10 reps. With the weight bar on my shoulders, 20 lunges (10 each leg).  Then 30 torso rotations with a 9-pound bar on my shoulders. That is one grouping, each set done three times.

Or with 12-pound dumbbells in each hand, I do a hammer curl while stepping onto a bench, then hammer curl again while stepping backward and down into a lunge. I do 10 each leg, then 20 leg raises on the end of the bench. That grouping is done three times.

Part 2—Yes you can be fit and feminine!

Cardio

I don’t run or do high-intensity cardio two days in a row because it bothers my knees. I can walk every day, though, and that is my favorite cardio exercise when the weather permits. But I walk fast and for at least 45 minutes if I am outside, sometimes with a sprint or two in between.

In the gym, I jump on the elliptical and repeat this pattern for 20 or 30 minutes with the crossramp at level 5:

• 2 minutes at level 10
• 2 minutes at level 12
• 3 minutes at level 14
• 2 minutes at level 12
• 2 minutes at level 10

On the treadmill, I start on a level 5 incline and repeat the same pattern above, using levels 5, 10, and 15, usually at between 3 and 3.5 mph. If the treadmill only goes to a level 10 incline, then I stay between level 5 and 10. I vary my stride, too. Sometimes I up the speed and go fast, almost at a jog, sometimes at the highest incline, I walk slower with the longest possible stride I can take.

*The Friend Friday project by Modly Chic is a way for bloggers to share more about themselves and create a friendly connection with other bloggers. Katy of Modly Chic sends us questions weekly, and we answer on our blogs.

PS: Be sure to check out my first Fab Friday 5 post at In Their Closet for my picks of the ‘Net this week!

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