Workout: Back Buster!

ImageSo while surfing Pinterest Sunday night I found this great back strengthening workout by Women’s Health! I added a few modifications to meet my specific trouble areas (ahem mid section).

My version:

4 x 10 reps each

– Assisted Chin Up (90 lbs)

– Plank Row (10 lbs)

– Lat Pulldown (55 lbs)

– Back Dips (knees bent)

After finishing with the weight portion of this I ran/walked two miles.

Ran: 4, 3, 2 ,1 laps

Walked: 1-2 laps in between

Next time I do this workout I plan on increasing the intensity by lowering the weight on the assisted chin ups, increasing the weight on the lat pulldown to 70 lbs and do the back dips with my legs straightened.

If you’re not sure how to properly do any of these workouts please view Women’s Health’s Video!

And We’re Back!

It’s been an excruciating couple of months, but everything is almost back to normal in the Life by Emily household. If you haven’t seen on my facebook page I’ve had a crazy couple of months. Early July I went on vacation with my family, but a week after I came home my hot water line under the kitchen sink burst and flooded my apartment. [Serious vacation-high-killer!]

Story:

On Friday the 13th (seriously bad ju-ju day) we woke up to a sauna – I’m serious the thermostat read 85 degrees – and a fountain of water spraying from under the kitchen sink. After shutting off the water, we called our landlord – like any good tenant would – and she refused to do anything, call anyone or even come see the damage. We’re guessing the water line busted around 3 AM and ran for a good 2 and a half hours, leaving us with an inch or 2 of water by the entry way and kitchen. We quickly swept, soaked and carried the standing water out of our apartment – could have used a wet vac right about then. Once the water out I realized my bookcase, rug and purse were all soaked. The bookcase is from Ikea, so not a huge loss, the rug dried well, but everything in my purse was ruined. Best part: my camera that had all my pictures from that wonderful vacation with my family – in my purse, in the water. I lost everything on there and I almost cried. FYI that was about three weeks ago and BestBuy is still trying to fix it.

Now the real story begins: Remember how I told you my landlord didn’t want to come out and access the water damage? Well she didn’t do anything. Finally after countless text messages, emails and certified mail, we were told that due to the extensive damage she was breaking our lease and we had two weeks to get out. [It was a great week for us.] Let’s just say I know now more about the Texas Property Code than I ever wanted to.

Luckily we were able to find a great apartment in the same area. We are finally settled in at our new apartment!

So that’s where I’ve been the last month and I’m hoping to have some new posts heading your way soon!