A Family Who Exercises Together, Stays Together...

Ryan recently got me into a new workout craze involving kettlebells. Now, when he first bought them, I thought they looked silly and wondered if they really did anything different than the conventional dumbbells we have in our house. I watched him swing them around, doing different exercises and I could see how passionate he was about it -- and his motivation was definitely contagious. So, I asked him to buy me one. I started off with 15 pounds, moved onto 20 pounds and then yesterday, I shocked myself with the 26 pounders. I know it doesn't sound like much, but I was really proud of myself to be able to lift that thing over my head, 18 times. I not only am seeing results, but I feel so much stronger. It's pretty cool. If you don't know what a kettlebell looks like, here it is: We converted half of our garage into a gym, filling it with weights, benches and of course, an array of kettlebells. It's so nice to be able to walk right into the garage and complete a workout without having to leave the house and walk into a gym. Do I miss the atmosphere of the gym? Sure. It can be really motivating and the options of equipment are endless at a gym, but it's also nice to not have to work up the motivation to get dressed, drive to the gym 10 miles away and force your crying kid into the Kids Klub for the time you are in the gym (with the hope that the babysitters don't call you down to get your crazy kid!)

So, I've been trying really hard to work out at home -- and this lifestyle is definitely nice to have the kids around to watch. Ryan and I are hoping that all this exposure the kids have to seeing us exercising will influence them to follow in our footsteps...WHICH, it has!

Ryan put a pull-up bar in the doorway of Ronan's room and he basically does pull-ups everytime he works out. The kids have become accustomed to seeing him do this, so naturally, they wanted to try it. The first time Ronan tried it, he literally held on for a second and Ryan would catch him as he let go. Now, he can hold on for 5-7 seconds. It's amazing.

Riley has been "working out" for a while, with gymnastics 2 times a week and what not, so the girl can hold on for a good amount of time -- that is, if she isn't laughing! We've been trying to get her to strengthen her upper body and the progress is obvious. In her gymnastics class, there is a rope they have to climb and the first few times, she could barely get 3 inches off the ground. This past rope climb, she was able to get to the blue line, which is 5 feet off the ground!