Can you believe it's almost the weekend? The holiday always messes me up - in a good way!
My cute friend, Luwana Hunt called me this morning, complaining about how tired she was. She said she'd stayed up until one-thirty in the morning because she couldn't stop reading The Fourth of July. Made me feel good. What a sweetie, eh?
After I talked to her I remembered that I haven't drawn for the fitness contest yet. So I did and the winner is - Traci Crossley. Congrats Traci. She gets a copy of The Fourth of July. Thanks to everybody who entered. I hope it helped you reach your health/fitness goals.

I'm stoked for our workout tomorrow. We haven't done plyometrics with lower body for a while. Remember if you have health/joint problems, don't do the jumps.

Warm-up and cardio - 20-40 minutes
Walking Lunge - 3 sets of 12 on each leg
Lunge and jump - Step forward into a lunge, then jump and switch legs in midair, sink into the lunge on the other side and switch again - switch 20 times.
Squat - 3 sets of 12-15 - hold light weights and raise in front of you to help with balance.
Squat Jump - find a step - jump onto the step and sit down into a squat, straighten and step off - 20-30 reps.
Plie - 3 sets of 15-18 - step really wide for the plie, sit deep and then raise heels off ground before straightening,
Twinkle toes - sit into a plie, jump and bring toes together in center, land with toes out wide and sit into plie again - 20-30 jumps
Step-up - 3 sets of 10
Jumping Jacks - 30-40 reps
Hamstring Curl - with machine or band - 20-24 reps
Calf Raise - 30 reps on each leg
Cool-down and stretch

Make sure you go really slow on the regular moves and quick on the jumps. If you need exercise descriptions go to my website - www.camichecketts.com

Hope you're having a great holiday. We've been to the Lewiston parade and celebration and then we were smoldering so we spent the afternoon swimming. For any of you who have read my book, "The Fourth of July," the parade was a bit scary. I kept watching for suspicious characters planting bombs! My imagination is a bit overactive.

I'd better get back to my cute boys, so I'll make this quick today.
Tomorrow's workout is cardio and upper body.

Warm-up and cardio - 20-60 minutes - moderate intensity
Lat Pull-down - 3 sets of 12 - 50-70 lbs on the machine or with a band
Seated Row - 3 sest of 12 - 40-60 lbs or band
Decline Pushup - 3 sets of 10-12 - feet on a ball or a step, hands on floor.
Overhead Press - 3 sets of 10 - 8-12 lb. handweights
Hammer Curl - 12 reps - 12-15 lb. hand weights
Bicep Curl - 15-18 reps - 10-12 lb. weights
Outward Bicep Curl - 12-15 reps - 10-12 lb. weights
Tricep Dip - 3 sets of 12
Cool-down and stretch

That's it. Pretty simple. If you need exercise descriptions - go to my website www.camichecketts.com. It's under the links page - Cami's strength training guide.

Have a great holiday!

Tomorrow is supposed to be a long cardio day. I'm planning on a good run, but we have company showing up anytime and staying through Thursday. You know how it goes, you stay up way too late and then you can't get your bum out of bed.

I'm trying to think up some words of fitness wisdom, but my brain is saturated with too much ice cream. Overall, I'm still eating healthy meals, but I must have ice cream everyday. Don't you think that's justified in the summer? I figure it's dairy and I try to use it for a snack so I'm keeping my blood sugar level, but maybe that's not a good argument since the sugar in ice cream will probably make my blood sugar skyrocket.

I just read that your body naturally sheds fat in the summer. That's good news for me. So maybe all the ice cream won't make me gain too much weight!

Hope you all have an awesome Fourth of July. I'll find some time tomorrow to post Thursday's upper body workout.

Hey friends. I'm so glad it's Monday. We had a great weekend. I spent time with my kiddos, which was sorely needed after our crazy week. Now I'm excited to get a little work done while they have quiet time! I loved the interval circuit this morning. How'd you do? The intervals were hard and it was a nice break to lift in between.
Tomorrow is plain old cardio-lower body. I'll try to think of exciting moves to spice it up!

Warm-up and cardio - 20-60 minutes
Squat and step - 20 -24 reps - squat with legs together, then step right and squat wide, repeat on left side for one rep.
Step and lunge - Find a step or raised platform. Step onto it with right leg, lunge deep, then bring leg baack and switch sides. 2 sets of 12 on each leg.
Dead Lift - 15-20 reps
Plie - 3 sets of 10 - holding 10-20 pound dumbbells
Leg raises - stand with feet together, bring leg straight in front of you 12 times, repeat to the side and rear, then do other leg. Try to go very slow and control the muscle tension. Also, try to not hold onto anything so the stationary leg gets a really good workout. Think of a ballerina.
Cool-down and stretch

Okay. Here's what you've all been waiting for. A different schedule. So exciting, eh?

Monday - Upper Body - Intervals
Tuesday - Lower Body - Cardio
Wednesday - Long Cardio Day
Thursday - Upper Body - Cardio
Friday - Lower Body-Plyometrics
Saturday - Cardio - Option of intervals

It's always good to switch things up. Your body adjusts to the same demands on it quickly.

Here's Monday's Workout:

Warm-up - 5-10 minutes
Cardio Sprint - 3 minutes (go as hard as you can on a machine or running stairs)
Bent-over row - 3 sets of 10
Lat Pull-down 20-24 reps
Assisted Pull-up - 2 sets of 12
Cardio Sprint - 3 minutes
Bent-elbow Lateral raise - 20-24 reps
Chest Press - 2 sets of 12-15
Cardio Sprint - 3 minutes
Tricep Kickback - 3 sets of 12
Tricep Dip - 3 sets of 12
Cardio Sprint - 3 minutes
Bicep Curl - 3 sets of 12-15 (try to up your weight to 12-20 pound dumbbells)
Hammer Curl - 15-18 reps
Cardio Sprint - 3 minutes
Cool-down - 10 minutes of cardio
Stretch

So remember to go hard on the cardio and slow on the weights. If you've hit a plateau, try and up the amount of weight you're lifting and keep the movement very controlled.

The contest for the month of June is over this week. If you made your goals, please e-mail me camichecketts@yahoo.com and I'll enter your name. The prize is my first novel - The Fourth of July. If you don't win you can buy it at Borders, Barnes & Noble, B. Dalton Bookstores, The Book Table, The Preston Citizen, Sugar 'n Spice and Papa Jay's.

Have a great weekend ladies!