outdoor fitness


Home workout and PE ideas

home PE ideas

Outfit details from left: blue tee / black sweatpants / running shoes / boys green jersey / boys black shorts / red long sleeve tee / black and gold sweatpants / white sneakers /

Can you believe schools have been closed for a month already? Time flies! With three kids at home, I have to get creative in order to ensure they are doing their required P.E. time everyday for school.

My kids are required to combine strength, stretching, and cardio, into a thirty-minute workout, five days per week. They have to keep a log of what they do for exercise, and then turn it in to their P.E. teachers every Friday. If they aren’t logging their exercise daily, they will lose precious points on their grade!

In order to ensure they are keeping their P.E. grades up, and to also stay fit, we have devised a weekly at-home P.E. plan! This has turned into a great workout for myself, and my husband too! After all, we are all sheltering-in-place at home right now, so of course the gyms are closed. This makes working out at home even more important. We have no other place to go!

There are three important concepts my kids are required to incorporate into their daily P.E. routine. They need to incorporate stretching, strength, and cardio. We always start our workouts out with strength, then we incorporate cardio, and finish with stretching.

Here is a sample workout of what we do each day for P.E. This is a great workout for adults too! It has turned into my home workout routine.

This can be done in the backyard, or on the floor inside a home or apartment.

  • 10 jumping jacks
  • Basic stretch routine: stretch legs, back, and arms.
  • 25 squats with feet positioned directly below shoulders, toes pointing straight ahead.
  • 25 squats with feet wide, and toes pointed 45 degrees outward.
  • Walking lunges: you can go around your yard, back and forth inside a room, or save these for an outside walk.
  • 10 push-ups
  • Plank: on elbows or raised on hands for 30 seconds.
  • 10 traditional sit-ups
  • 20 crunches
  • 60 seconds of ab work, your choice.
  • Gently stretch legs, core, and arms.
  • Go out your front door for a thirty minute walk. You can incorporate walking lunges! To mix things up, we run in a circle around any cul-de-sac we see. If you are in an urban setting without cul-de-sacs, try doing a sprint down the block after ten minutes of walking. Then repeat after twenty minutes of walking.
  • You can also substitute jogging, bike riding, riding a scooter, or roller skating for walking. It’s good to alternate your cardio each day.
  • When you return home, do a ten minute stretch routine starting with your legs, followed by arms, and ending with your core.

That’s it! This workout never seems to get boring since we do it as a family, and we mix up the cardio segment of the routine. I’m so thankful we have our fabulous adidas gear for these workouts. They look and feel amazing, so we can continue working out everyday with ease! Love that!

What have you been doing for your home fitness routines during this time? Feel free to share in the comments below!

Thanks for stopping by!

XOXO

Cathy

*thank you to addias for sponsoring this post, all thoughts and opinions are my own.


Santa Teresa County Park Joice Trail

One of the few things we can do right now is go hiking. Thankfully, my family enjoys a good hike! We decided to check out a new trail, which I heard was filled with wildflowers this time of year. While not filled with a ton of wildflowers, Joice Trail in Santa Teresa County Park offered pretty views of southern San Jose, some hefty elevation, and pretty foliage.

One of the things we enjoyed about Joice Trail was the fact that the county has safety practices in place in order to ensure everyone can enjoy some outdoor fitness in the park while practing proper social distancing. We felt really safe and secure taking our kids on the trail. Love that!

As you can see above, Santa Clara County placed signage in strategic locations in the park to remind everyone to remain six feet apart, and to walk single file on the trails. In addition to these safeguards, Joice Trail is wider than most hiking trails in the area, allowing plenty of room to safely pass people.

We arrived at the trail-head at 9am, and hiked for a little over an hour with the kids. I definitely felt winded since I have only been walking, and working out at home. for the last five weeks. This hike made me not only miss hiking on a more regular basis, it made me miss the gym! I cannot wait for the gym to reopen. I miss spin classes! But I digress. . .let’s chat about this pretty trail. Check out these views.

It was a foggy morning, which is always nice and comfortable while hiking. This trail does not have a lot of shade, if you go during full sun, be sure to wear a sun hat, sunscreen, and sunglasses. If you can go in the morning, you are more likely to have weak sun, fog, or some clouds.

Joice Trail in Santa Teresa County Park is a wide trail, this makes it an easy trail for biking and dog walking too. We felt very comfortable walking single file and sharing space with dog walkers and bikes. There was plenty of room for everyone to safely pass one another while maintaining proper social distancing. Love that!

If you are local to the San Francisco Bay Area, be sure to check out Joice Trail! You can catch the trailhead on Manila Drive, where there is plenty of street parking; the lot is very small. You can check out a map on SCCgov.org. For more information about the park and trail, please visit SCCgov.org.

I highly recommend this trail! Thank you so much for stopping by, happy hiking and stay safe!

XOXO
Cathy


Quicksilver Trail in San Jose

quicksilver trail san jose historic hiking trails san jose quicksilver mines san jose hiking outfit ideasview silicon valley

wearing: silver hoops / tee shirt / backpack / sweatshirt / spring nail polish / jeans / hiking boots /

Quicksilver Trail is a popular hiking trail in the southern part of San Jose. It’s an interesting trail because it goes through the old and historic Quicksilver Mines; which are a big part of San Jose history. There are several mines in the area dating back to the gold rush; some of which were still in operation in the early 1900’s. This trail is a fun way to share and learn about our local history, while getting a great outdoor workout.

The Quicksilver Trails are steep. I would not recommend bringing a small child or stroller on these trails. They go up in elevation quickly, so it is a good idea to be old enough to handle the pitch of the trail; and to also be fit enough to tackle the terrain. It is a great workout, and worth the effort. The views at the top of the various trails are outstanding.

In case you are wondering what Quicksilver is, it is actually mercury. It was used during the gold rush as a reduction agent for gold and silver; before the industry switched to cyanide.  Quicksilver from San Jose was an important product during the gold rush, and essential in helping the area grow. It’s fun to hike through the old mines, and share this history with your kids. My kids enjoy the trails, and they always find it fun when we come across an old building or mine shaft. I recommend staying out of any mine remnants. It is not safe to climb into old buildings and mines.

There are several entrances to the Quicksilver Trails. Our favorite is on Whispering Pines Drive between Whitbourne Drive and Pierce Ranch Road. There is plenty of parking on the street across from the homes in the area. This is a neighborhood filled with homes and children, please respect the neighbors by driving slowly, not blocking driveways or mailboxes, and keeping noise to a minimum. During peak season such as weekends and summer, I recommend going before 10am. It gets crowded.

Shop my hiking outfit:

This is an incredible hike! I hope you enjoy it as much as my family and I do!

Thanks for stopping by!

XOXO
Cathy

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