Baller
I’m officially sick of every song on my phone.
I’ll download new songs on the computer and then forget to transfer them over, so when I workout, I end up scrolling through a mix of random stuff on my phone: the Mowtown CD I downloaded for beginning aerobics, old pop/rap/Zumba/rock songs, Christmas music and the Pilot’s Dos Gringos CD that always tends to appear when I’m working out.
Fighter pilot songs performed by 2 dudes and a guitar. Not exactly heart-thumping treadmill music 😉 All I have to say is thank goodness for Pandora- LOVE the Pitbull and Muse stations.
While I was working out (did some weights and a version of the HIIT routine I posted the other day), I did a fun twist on the basic, quasi-inappropriate hip raise.
Take it up a notch: Hip Raise
To get the hard-to-target inner thigh area as well as the hams and glutes, start in the basic hip raise position:
-On your back, knees bent, feet on the floor hip width apart. You hands are at your sides with palms down into the floor. Important: be sure to keep your gaze straight up towards the ceiling to protect your neck.
-Place a playground ball (or medicine ball with very little weight) in between your knees (top pic above). Squeeze the ball and feel that lovely burn from your adductors (inner thighs).
-Complete the workout as usual, raising your hips towards the ceiling and lowering almost to the floor – keep about an inch above the floor when you lower. You can’t rest that way 😉
-To make it even more challenging, try doing it unilaterally with one leg at a time (2nd pic above). The key here is to squeeze the ball as you raise, and also keep your knees in a straight line. Don’t let the knee of the lifted leg creep up, mmm k?
-For even more fun, in between sets, lower your hips and squeeze the ball 10 times. It burns so good 🙂
Some recent eats:
Yesterday’s lunch at Pita Jungle:
a gorgeously crispy piece of salmon (love when the outside is crispy and the inside is buttery….), brown rice and oily spinach. Someone got a little overzealous with the olive oil in the kitchen –that tends to happen with wilted greens- but the meal was amazing.
Especially since I was with my two favorite people 🙂
This morning’s bowl of oats with Sun Warrior, cherries, almond butter and tea
This morning we’re off to the zoo with some friends, then to a party for the new major selects, including my hubby. He’ll pin on in the next year – I’m really proud of him <3
Hope you have a happy Friday!
xoxo
Gina
Something to talk about: Do you use playground balls or stability balls often? They’re a great way to add some oomph to traditional strength training exercises. If you don’t want to order a small playground ball online, you can pick them up for a couple of dollars at Target or Walgreens in the kid’s section. Bonus: they’ll have Spongebob or wacky patterns 🙂
Zumba song of the day: An older one, but I still love it.
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Love the idea to add in the ball to the hip raises and doing one leg at a time! I will try it next time for sure. Is it weird that hip raises are one of my favorite moves?!
I live in Newport Beach, CA and we just got the first Pita Jungle in the area. I have been twice and I am obsessed. I have a schwarma and some the spicy chicken wrap, but I will have to try this salmon. It looks delish.
Since I’ve been doing Physique57 I’ve incorporated their ball into my workouts more. At first I was all like “oh cute, playground ball.” Somehow it transforms into a ball of lava. That’s the best explanation for the burn I feel when I workout with it!
I also rely on Pandora! It has taken years, but I finally have a finally tuned station that ranges from the Wicked soundtrack to Rhianna – but rarely plays a song I don’t like.
I have never tried a ball workout…but that is something I should put on my list!
Have a wonderful weekend! 🙂
Just have to say, I’m envious of your finely-tuned Pandora station – it sounds awesome!!
Have fun at the party! The hip move sounds great… I will try it!
Congratulations to the Pilot! But….what does it mean? As a non-military family I am not familiar with the phrase “pin on.”
Olivia looks so cute & content in the Pilot’s arms! I bet you are happy that tomorrow is the last day of March so that you can see a clean-shaven man again. 🙂
I love incorporating medicin balls, bosu’s, & stability balls into workouts!
thanks girl!
and YES i’m so glad march is basically over 😉
when he pins on, he’ll actually be “major” instead of captain
Might sound like a stupid question, but I know nothing about military/pilot life. What does new major selects refer to? Envious of your breakfast…I’m out of my GF oats!
Not a stupid question at all! He was promoted to major but when he pins on, he’ll officially be major 🙂
What are the major selects? And what do you mean he will pin on?
he was selected as major, and pin on is when he’ll actually have “major” in his title
sorry, i should have explained it… i’m using military lingo, which never happens haha
Oh ok. That’s fine. You are a military wife. You are used to using all the lingo.
And congratulations to the Pilot. Major Tom XYZ.
thanks girl 🙂
Have fun at the zoo! The entire time I was living in AZ, I never ate at the Pita Jungle but drove by one 10 times a day. What was I thinking?! The food looks great!
Ahaha, such a cute picture of the Pilot and Liv.. but dear god.. that ‘stache.. it’s gotta go! lol 🙂
I took a pilaga class last year and we used a bender ball (pretty much an expensive play ball) for a lot of things! I especially loved it for ab moves (like side bridges) and planks (with your feet on the ball, so hard!). I still ask for one from the back at the gym to use from time to time.
Sounds like an awesome move, and I can definitely use something new to target my inner thighs – especially with bathing suit season right around the corner! I’m going to my parents’ house tonight and plan on digging around in the garage to see if I can find an old playground ball, haha.
Congratulations to the Pilot!! Have a great day 🙂
It’s funny you mentioned stability balls/playground balls because I did a medicine ball workout this morning and thought “Why don’t I use this thing more often?!” Your quasi-inappropriate hip raise enhancements sound great – might give em a try this weekend! 🙂
“Especially since I was with my two favorite people”… and that ‘stache! Congrats to him for his promotion and soon ridding his face of that thing hehe.
amen, girl
Oooh! I love that video! Have you ever made a playlist of YouTube Zumba and danced around for a quickie at home workout?
heck yeah i have!
Congrats to the Pilot! It used to be that all you had to do to advance in rank was not screw up, but it’s become a lot harder now. Especially in the Air Force. The way they are downsizing is scary.
Aren’t you glad Sunday is April?? That means TOM MUST SHAVE THAT HIDEOUSNESS ON HIS FACE 🙂
Btw- that was meant in a super sweet way. The mustache is way to creepy. LOL
couldn’t agree more. creeptastic
When I first saw your oatmeal I thought those were olives in there. Haha! I was thinking that’s definitely something I have never heard of 🙂
Cute picture of Olivia & the Pilot. You are the cutest family.
I’m definitely the same way with my songs when I download them. Someone needs to recognize that there’s market niche for some kind of app that reminds you what you’ve downloaded versus what you already have and then matches them up by theme or genre!
The awake picture! Love it – what a little doll 🙂
Oh man. My pilot ex downloaded a bunch of dos gringos on my computer one day and I must have missed it when cleaning it out one day. It came on my old shuffle while I was running one day and it took me FOREVER to realize what it was!!
haha everytime i hear it, i’m like “what is this?!”
Omg Livy just keeps getting cuter and cuter in every post! Sucha doll. I have a completely unrelated question to ask you. I’ve been on a mission to gain some muscle mass for about a half a year now. My boyfriend keeps telling me if I don’t take protein supplements 10-15 mins after my workout that I basically wasted a workout. Is this true? Does protein make that much of a difference? I bought the SunWarrior Protein from your open sky page a few months ago (and I love it by the way!) but I’m never in the mood for it that soon after my workout. Thanks so much!
hey girl,
thank you!
yes, protein is important after strength training if you’re trying to build muscle. i wouldn’t say the workout is waster without it, but it certainly helps!
so glad you like the sun warrior 🙂
I LOVE all of the zumba/spanish/reggaeton songs that you post, is there a way you can post an all inclusive playlist to itunes that i could download from? If not can you send a list of all of your favs so i can get them? I’m am in desperate need for new music as i just registered for my first marathon!
Thank you Gina!
Yum the salmon looks goo:)
I love the Zumba songs you post 🙂 they are always fun! Also, that salmon looks fantastic. Yum!!
I’ve never put cherries in oatmeal, looks delicious! I’ll definitely give the hip raises a go, thanks for that. That salmon dish looks fantastic too, exactly the kind of thing that I’d order!
OMG that cherries in your oatmeal look so fabulous. I am definitely going to buy some of those the next time I am at the store! Happy Friday!
download these:
“I believe in a thing called love” The Darkness
“Feel So Close” Calvin Harris
“Shake it Out” Florence and the Machine
“Lonely Boy” the Black Keys
ALLLLl great for working out.
I was literally just thinking the same thing about my iPod on the treadmill this morning– so over all of my playlists. Maybe you’ll post a new, goodie soon?!!
PS, love adding the medicine ball to hip raises. Why haven’t I thought of that before?!
That salmon looks amazing! The last pieces I’ve had were sub-par, so now I’m drooling.
My husband just made the Major’s list as well. Congrats to Tom. Those cherries look amazing, my favorite fruit of all time :).
Did you know that Pandora has stopped access to listeners outside the US? DENIED! So unfair. What are we going to do exactly that could be illegal? I have no idea.
I hate all the songs on my phone too, but I’m having some trouble since I migrated to a smartphone. It is something to think about… the songs you buy on itunes can not always be used on a smartphone – some can and some can’t. I’m slowly getting to know Double Twist (the Android equivalent to itunes) but it’s a pretty buggy piece of software.
I use a stability ball a lot and love it. I have also exploded one by accidentally getting to close to a bar heater. That was a little alarming. It didn’t explode like a balloon though (thank goodness!) but made a soft pop followed by a hissssssss.
no way! that’s so lame.
and the story about the ball popping made me laugh 🙂
Try fit radio! They have a websit if you don’t have an iPhone 🙂
I always thought hip raises were really easy and lame until I started doing them with only one leg at a time – then I started feeling the burn! 😀 That’s a great idea to add the ball for an extra challenge!
Congrats to the Pilot!
Hey! I had the same problem as you regarding the ‘no new music’ thing… I have fallen in love with the “Fit Radio” app on my iPhone, they mix the songs together so there’s never a pause between songs. Great song selection too- I prefer it to pandora now 🙂
Your baby is soooo adorable. I am going to try this stability ball workouts. I tend to shy away from them unless I am doing abs but I need to work the rest of my body with them. 🙂