The Lunge: Love to Hate It
Hello there friends!
Oh my goodness, where to start today. I always seem to have more words than time! 
Let’s start with the FEATS recap:
Weight Training (Legs/Abs):
- TM Warmup 5 min
- High Step Ups 3 sets of 15 reps per leg
- Plie Squat with Pulses 3 sets of 40 reps
- Side Step Ups 3 sets of 15 reps per leg
- V-Ups for Abs 3 sets of 20 reps
- VS Snow Angels 3 sets of 20 reps
Afterward, I left the conehead at home with MSP (to save her the ridicule from all the other doggies out on wogs), grabbed Rascal and we went for a quick 2.11 mile run. Just enough to get him a little activity for the day. Why are my dogs so good when they are taken out by themselves and such little freak-monsters when they go together? Are kids like that? It was a great little run – felt so good after working the legs.
A scoop of Vega Whole Food Health Optimizer mixed with almond milk and a banana served as my post-workout meal, with a little fall view in the background.
Mid-morning brought about the urge for apple pie, a la Larabar. For some reason I felt the need to include more fall foilage in the shot since apple pie feels so very “autumn” to me…
I was so hungry at lunch I completely forgot to take a photo. I had the leftover shrimp & scallops takeout with a single “Simply…Cookie” for dessert.
I had a doc appointment after lunchtime way out east of where I live. My ‘health food store radar’ went off like crazy over there – they have a very new & much bigger Vitamin Cottage that I had to visit. This is where I did some of the shopping for the giveaway.
And lookie what I found….
A tropical fruit tart Larabar!!! I’ve been trying to track one of these new flavors down for a couple of MONTHS!!! (Apparently I wasn’t trying hard enough, guess it was in Parker CO all this time!) I was so excited to try it!
Friends, this is like a Hawaiian mini-vacation in a wrapper. OH. SO. YUMMY. Wow. I need to order a box online PRONTO! And there will be one in the giveaway schwag. (shwag? swag? I’m schticking with schwag…)
By dinnertime I was feeling a bit lacking in the green department, so I made an extra-green (read: not really any fruit to speak of) smoothie. Extra cucumber, sprouts, frozen spinach, extra celery, 1/2 avocado, and only 1/3 apple. It was THICK. And kind of ‘savory’ rather than sweet. But as a side dish to my open-faced Gardenburger, it worked!
One thing I meant to mention in yesterday’s post –and somehow didn’t– was a SPECIAL THANKS to Alison of Mama’s Weeds. I found my new hosting company through her site, and she very kindly and graciously answered all the questions I’d emailed her before I made up my mind on which company to use. Alison, thanks so much for all of your help and encouragement! You’re awesome!
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It’s about time for a FitFeature, don’t you think? So today I’d like to talk about one of my favorite exercise moves: the LUNGE.
If you don’t have a lot of time to get in a full workout (or maybe don’t really have access to exercise equipment) the lunge is an excellent move to employ.
1. It utilizes pretty much the entire lower half of the body and your core, so you get a lot of ‘bang for your buck’ as far as hitting a lot of muscles in a short period of time.
2. It gets your heart rate up so you can also get an effective cardio workout.
3. There are more variations than you can imagine to constantly change it up. Here are just a few:
- Rear Lunge
- Forward Lunge
- Walking Lunge
- Side Lunge
- Explosive (Plyometric) Lunges
4. You can easily turn it into a full body exercise by adding upper body movements WHILE lunging (bicep curls, side shoulder raises, overhead shoulder presses).
In any lunge you perform, draw an imaginary line straight upward from your big toe on the forward foot and be sure your forward knee does not cross that line. You are exercising to strengthen and protect your knees… letting your knee travel past that line is asking for pain and trouble in the long run.
If you are just starting out, try a couple sets of however many you can comfortably perform with GOOD FORM. As you get better, go for the burn. Out on a walk or run, pick an object in the distance and do some walking lunges (alternating legs) as far as you can go. Get those legs burning like crazy, watch that knee/toe line, keep your front heel DOWN and GO FOR IT! This is a fabulous leg/butt shaper.
Or do some uphill lunges. Ouchie.
Squats and Deadlifts are two other EXCELLENT exercises that essentially utilize the whole body, especially when done with heavier weights (as long as the form is impeccable). But they will have to wait their turn for the spotlight on the FitFeat blog. 
Today’s question: do you incorporate lunges into your leg routine? Do you love them? Hate them? Have a love/hate relationship with them? Drop a comment!
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Quick note about an update to the blog: there is a new tab in the navigation bar at the top called “Favorite Things” — check it out!
OK, now I’m off to write the next post, which is the one with the giveaway!!! So check back again yet today!
Have a GREAT Tuesday!
– Shari B. =)