Saturday Stretch/Flexibility -- Deep Hip and Leg Stretch Flow -- Part 2

Here is video number 2 from the Deep Hip and Leg Stretch Flow series from sadienardini.

Again, listen to your body.  Only take the stretches as deep as your body wants to go.

Friday's Funnies -- Happy Valentine's Day!

Thursday's Total Body/Cardio -- Fat Burning Cardio

Today's workout comes from FitnessBlender.  It is a fat burning cardiovascular workout that will hit all the major muscle groups while burning a ton of calories.  It is about 35 minutes long.  It is a body weight workout.  No equipment is needed.

A warm up and cool down are both provided.

Here's the structure of the workout from their website:

Workout Structure: 40 seconds each exercise with 15 sec jog/boxer shuffle in-between each exercise. Do alternating sets of each group of two exercises for a total of two sets per exercise.

• Slow Burpee
• Jumping Jack
• Lateral Step And Reach
• Ventral Jacks
• High Knee Pause
• Fly Jacks
• Bicycle Crunch
• Lunge Jack (Alternating lunge, when in lunge hands at front ankle, stand with hands over head)
• Plank Slaps
• Stutter Jack (regular JJ motion but pause three times bottom, top and half way on the way up and down)
• Lateral Hops
• High Knee Jack (hands clap under thigh every time knee goes up, alternating)
• Side Leg Raise w/ Oblique Crunch
• Plank with Rear Leg Raise
• Toe Touch Kick (alternating)
• Jumping Jack

Modify wherever you might need to.

Wednesday's Wild/Warrior Workout -- Box and Burn Jump Rope Workout

It's been a while since I posted a longer workout--this one is about 54  minutes long.  It comes from RealFitTv.

It combines upper body kickboxing moves with pushups, bicycle crunches and jump rope segments.  It can be done with or without light weights (no more than 3 lbs.). If you are new to kickboxing, leave the weights out of it.  If you don't have a jump rope, just do the jumping and pretend to turn the rope.

A warm and cool down are both provided.

Tuesday's Trunk & Core -- Trunk Rotation Challenge, Ab Challenge + a Shoulder Challenge

Today is challenge day!

I found 3 challege videos from mytrainerbob (Harper that is).  These challenges can be used in different ways.  First, they can be used as assessments--a starting point to see where you are now and how you can improve and progress in the future.  They can also be used as plateau busters.  By challenging your muscles to do more or something they are not used to doing will help get you out of that rut.  Lastly, they are great quick add-ons to any cardio workout you are doing.

Do a quick warm up first, just to get your muscles ready--nothing too strenuous, you want to see just what your body can do.

The first one is a Plank Challenge--as I've stated in the past, a plank is one of, it not the best core exercise you can do.  It target all the abdominal muscles--that's why these are so hard.  Do what you can, try to stay at the highest level possible until you start to lose form, then you can go down to your knees a bit, but try to come back up to your toes as much as you can.

The second one is also a core challenge.  This one is a Single Leg Trunk Rotation--  20 reps on each side, with or without added weight.  Time yourself on this one, see how long it takes.  Make sure you keep your hips and knees facing forward the whole time.  Make that rotation come from your abdominals, not your hips.  The balance element makes your core and your glutes work even harder.

I couldn't get the video to load directly--the link is under the picture.

Single Leg Trunk Rotation Challenge

Since I missed yesterday, the last video is a Lateral Raise challenge for your shoulders.  Again, this is a set number of reps--15 each side.  See how long it takes for you to do them.  Keep your shoulders relaxed from your ears the entire time.  If you need to shake out, do it and then continue until you are finished.

Don't forget to stretch out your abs, lower back and shoulders afterward.

Sunday's Recipe Share -- Gluten free, grain free Chicken Pot Pie

I had a very busy weekend, so I missed Friday and Saturday, but I didn't want to miss out in sharing this recipe with you.  I made these individual pot pies last week.  I've tried making a couple of different grain free pastry crusts and was not happy with the results.  Well, these are delicious!  I'm going to try making a sweet pie with this crust recipe--stay tuned for the results.

Here's the recipe:

Crust

1-⅓ c almond flour

½ c coconut flour

½ t. salt

2 eggs, whisked

10 T butter or coconut oil frozen

Filling

8 T butter or olive oil (I used a mix of the two)

1 c. diced carrots

1 med onion, diced (1 c.)

1 c chopped green beans (fresh or frozen and thawed)

2 celery stalks diced (1 c.)

1 t. salt + more if needed

½ t black pepper + more if needed

½ c arrowroot flour (or tapioca--I used tapioca starch/flour)

1 can full fat coconut milk

3 c. chicken broth, warm

1 T dried parsley

1 t. dried thyme

3 c. shredded or chunked cooked chicken

1 egg white

2 t water

Preheat oven to 400.

Make the crust: Combine 1st 3 ingredients in a food processor, pulse 4-5 times or til combined.  Add the eggs and blend until smooth--15 to 20 seconds.  Take butter from freezer and shred using a cheese grater.  Add half the grated butter to the processor, process for 10 seconds.  Add the other half and pulse a few times to just barely combine (small pieces of butter should be visible).  Remove this from the processor and divide into 4 equal pieces.  Press each piece into a ball and wrap individually with plastic wrap. I placed them into individual baggies.  Place in fridge to chill.

Make the filling:  Melt the butter in a large pot over med. heat.  Add the next 3 ingredients and cook for 5 minutes or until the onions become translucent. Add the celery and cook about 3-5 minutes more.

In a small bowl, mix together the salt, pepper and flour and then sprinkle it over the vegetable mixture.  Stir until the flour is mixed in well--about 2 mins.  Pour in the coconut milk and broth and bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to med. and simmer until the mixture thickens to the consistency of gravy, about 10 mins. Add the parsley, thyme and chicken and simmer an additional 5-10 min. Season to taste with more salt and pepper if needed.

Assemble the pies:  Spoon filling into 4 12 oz measure cups/ramekins, filling them all the way to the top.  Remove the dough from the fridge and roll each ball between 2 pieces of parchment until it is just wider than the top of the baking dish (about ¼ inch thick).  Tip--I rolled the dough out right inside the plastic bag and then used a scissor to cut the bag down the middle to get the piece of dough out--it did not stick at all. Gently place the rolled dough over the top of each dish and press down the sides.  Whisk the egg whites and water in a small bowl.  Brush a thin coat of this over the entire crust.  Cut slits in the top of the crust to let steam escape.

Place pies on a jelly roll pan and bake for 15-20 minutes or til the tops are golden brown.  Remove from oven, let cool for 10-15 min. before serving. This is really important because that filling is HOT!