Quick arms and abs circuit

After a busy morning yesterday, the lunch time hour kind of snuck up on me.

I decided to take the leftover veggies from last night and the leftover buffalo tofu and put it on a sandwich thin with a bit of avocado.  Evidently, I overestimated the surface area of the sandwich thin or underestimated the amount of veggies I had.

I solved this issue with a fork until I could actually pick the sandwich up.  Too many vegetables on your sandwich is never an issue in my book.

On the side I had some Chobani with cacao nibs, raspberries, and a bit of honey.  Despite my best efforts to warn him, Brad learned earlier last week that cacao is not sweet like chocolate.  He put his hand in the bag and pulled out a few, tossed them in his mouth, and then made a pretty gruesome face.

Cacao nibs have the rich chocolate flavor, minus the sugar.  They’re basically chocolate before you add the sugar and the milk fat.  They’re chock full of anitoxidants, but to really enjoy them, you have got to add something a little sweet like honey.

I managed to sneak in a workout in early afternoon.  The condo gym was dead…thank goodness!  Sometimes, like in the evenings it is impossible to get a cardio machine.

I did 45 minutes on the elliptical, then did this quick arms and stomach circuit two times.

Pushups x 20
Bicycles x 50
Flyes x 20 (alternating 5 lbs. and 7.5 lbs.)*
Tricep Dips x 20**
Bench Press x 20
Seated Rotation x 20 (8 lbs. medicine ball)***

Some notes:
*When my weight lifting ability is between weights, I use both the lighter and heavier weights when I do an exercises.  For example, I started off this exercise with the 7.5 lbs, did about 10 reps, then switched to the 5 lbs. weights.  You could also do more reps with the lighter weights (but who has time for that?) or less reps with the heavier weights.  Heavier weights and less reps are for building bulk which is not my intention so I stick to using both set of weights until I graduate to using 7.5 lbs. exclusively.

**I try to keep my legs straighter than the photo.  The straighter your legs, the more difficult this workout.  If I get super exhausted to the point where I’m not sure I can finish, I bring my legs in a bit and bend my knees more.  I’m okay with making an exercise a little easier if it will help me finish.  Finishing is more important to me than doing an exercise the more difficult way possible.

***I keep my feet off the floor when I do this exercise.  It is a lot more difficult if you completely elevate your feet a few inches off the floor.  Maintaining balance makes your abdominal muscles work even harder.