So just take a gander at this video:

And here is a huge part of why the show is irresistible, Kenzie:

Here is what you came for though, the workout. (FINALLY!!!!)

10 Side step cross lunge back and kick – To avoid the inevitable fae she is fighting with, she could use these exercises to hone her agility and fighting skills to avoid attacks and give them back.
20 Chair tuck in and lift – Strengthen her core to improve fighting and other succubi skills
20 Squat jumps – Cardio and strength training for fighting
10 Dive bombers – Since Bo is a succubus, I wanted an exercise that would work out her arm muscles and be a little sexy too.
50 Mountain Climbers – Cardio for running, core strength for agility, speed, strength
15 e. side Side Lifts (30) – Pretty sure Bo would like the V this exercise makes in your abs.
x 3
19:02 was my time… beat me!

Oh and I of course had to add substantial amounts of eyeliner to my face for this in honor of the show. And this lighting wasn’t meant to be reminiscent of the show’s lighting, that happened because it was dark, but this pretty much fits.

Side step cross lunge back and kick 10
The title of this is more complicated than it is… Jump/step to your right and then bring your left leg diagonally behind your right leg, lunging with your right leg. Lift your left leg up into a strong kick. Drop that leg back down to slightly behind your right foot. This positions you to jump to the other side. That is one rep.

Chair tuck in and lift 20
Grab a sturdy chair that won’t shift. Place your hands on the floor and your feet on the chair in plank. Tuck your leg in towards your chest, then straighten to the chair and lift your foot a few feet up. That is one rep. Do it with the other leg next.

Squat jumps 20
Squat down and jump up as quick as you can. One rep.

Dive bombers 10
Get in plank, then put your butt in the air, with your head towards the floor, back straight. Dive your head down to the floor and lift up to the ceiling, keeping your butt down, and the tops of your legs off the floor. Reverse the motion to get your butt back up in the air. One rep.

Mountain Climbers 50
Get in plank, then bring one foot in underneath your body. Switch legs. Each switch is one rep.

Side Lifts 15 each side (30)
Sit on the ground, with your legs out to one side and leaning on one hand. Lift yourself up into a side plank, using those side ab muscles to move. Lift up 15 times on one side. Then switch and do side lifts on the other side.

That is your first round – you will complete three!

This one will get you moving. It can’t not.

Pure pop brattiness

Pretty energy

Enjoy!
I’ve devised a new nerd workout… I know… I PROMISE I’ll post next week.

If you think I am complaining, well. You aren’t wrong exactly, but this is a post, thanks to my friends (Liz, very importantly, who got me to write this) who reminded me of the realities of January and not wanting to get your butt out in the cold. Meaning, that if you are feeling an inkling of what I am feeling, you are not alone! I am not alone! We are in this together! So, how do we get motivated in these trying times? Besides being melodramatic? Well, talking with your friends helps, but really your pep talk needs to come from your own jigglfying self, otherwise, your motivation is not real, and it will certainly not last. That motivation? It comes from YOU and the craziest part about it is? YOU are totally capable of anything and everything. The hardest part is just getting that butt of that comfy couch. I’m sorry if I sound like a motivational pin on your sister’s Fitness board on Pinterest, but there are so many kernels of truth in the cliche sappy crap, if we can only let our snarky guard down and do what’s best for us.

Some general tips that work to get me moving:

Finding something you LIKE. Strangely challenging?
- I have been having a harder time coming up with workouts for myself that don’t bore me to tears. (Hence the lack of workout posts… oops.) No matter, change it up a bit. I’ve been going back to my old friend Zuzka Light for some workouts she’s made, so I don’t have to THINK. Added benefit: she knows what she’s doing. Added benefit: I can’t make up workouts that are too easy and too short, because someone else is doing it. Finding something you look forward to, whether it’s my blog, her workouts, Bodyrock, pilates, running, trapeze, I dunno, anything that gets you moving is never a bad thing.

For the runners out there (or the people that only run for the sake of their dog:::: ME)
If its cold, put on a hat, its huge. Wear gloves, that’s huge. Bring kleenex. That’s huge. Maybe obvious to anyone that has ever walked for more than two minutes to their car, but man a run is so much more enjoyable when your miserableness is lessened. Also remember that once you are warm as you run, it starts to feel weirdly good, almost exhilarating, like you are being purified with air.

Be kind, it will help your abs
Don’t be too hard on yourself. Don’t expect too much. Push yourself, try harder, try to improve, but don’t be so hard on yourself that you prevent yourself from wanting to get back to it tomorrow.

Build a habit
Something I read last year, or maybe the year before, I’m old – it takes three weeks to build a habit (at least a good one). And about, oh, a day, to destroy it. So keep at it trying and trying, just keep a routine.

Make it a lifestyle
After it’s a habit, think of it as a lifestyle. I try not to feel bad if I don’t get to exercising, because I have determined that this is a lifestyle choice and not a thing that will disappear overnight because I decided to not do it one, two, three, even more days. Just because you have an oops and don’t do it, does NOT mean you are never going to be able to do it routinely again. Just determine that you will, and… you will. Pretty simple.

And finally: Just do it
Marketing genius Mr. Dan Wieden knew, whether he understood it or not (I think he probably did), a very simple, yet important thing for anyone of any level doing something athletic… You just gotta do it. (And really, at work too, but that’s an aside.) Once you start doing that workout, you’ve already won. A. You’re doing it. B. You’ve gotten off the couch and C. Any exercise is better than none. And if you do HIIT like me, by the time you realize you’re just doing it, you’re halfway through and sweating hard and feeling like you could squat jump over the universe and into the TARDIS as it goes through the time warp.

And if that’s not a motivating image made for a motivational poster, I give up.

Entry to Versailles

Aaron in front of Versailles

Versailles grounds

Marie Antoinette’s Room

Chapel

Hall of Mirrors

Market in Versailles

View from our hotel room, hotel room

Cute houses of Versailles

Scooters were huge in Versailles, enough to chain up apparently.

Christmas decorations

Kid on scooter – French kids are so cute

PARIS

It’s all right dude, I’d be covering my face too.

Louvre – me and Una

Louvre – Me, Aaron, Luca

Marias neighborhood

Inside out museum

Beautiful music in the metro

Muse!

Steampunk metro station

Notre Dame

Notre Dame with river

Christmas market at Champs -Elysees

Cured meats at the Christmas market

Weird mice diorama

Delicious hot wine

You can kind of see the Arc de Triomphe

Tools made out of chocolate

Rainbow of macaroons

Catacombs

Last dinner in Paris. Delicious.

Christmas decorations on the street our hotel was on

Entrance to our hotel

Lobby of hotel

Not really a whole lot to go into… just get straight into it again. Nerd workouts next week!

15 minutes long, 5 exercises

Set your interval timers to 15 rounds, 10 seconds off, 50 seconds active

Side step up Right 14 / 15 / 15

Side step up Left 17 / 18 / 17

Reptile Pushup 11 / 11 / 11

Squat Kick 16 / 15 / 17

Backwards lunge (2) burpee 6 / 7.5 / 7

Side step up right

With your right foot on a sturdy, steady, non-moving surface like a chair, stand up on that foot and lift your left foot towards your chest as you step onto the chair

Side step up left

All the same except put your left foot on the chair

Reptile pushup

Do a pushup, mod as needed – knees down if necessary, then tuck your legs into each side.

Squat kick

Squat down and then kick up with one leg. One rep. Next time you squat, kick the other leg up.

Backwards lunge (2) burpee

Jump out into a plank. Jump your feet back in to your feet. Then step back into a backward lunge on each leg. That’s all one rep.

Disclaimer: I am not an expert, ask your doctor, do these at your own risk.

I did this workout on Thanksgiving with my sister. She can affirm the kick buttery of this workout. She did great though. Welcome to burpees, Lenor!! They will never leave you now you know the terror and joy of them.

And so here is that workout. The teaser photo that I showed last week is actually the workout I did the day before, but will post tomorrow. Don’t worry, that workout won’t be easy either, but this one…this one will get you. Thanks to Lenor for taking the pictures of this workout (and to my Dad for the upcoming one).

I’ll also include some photos of the Thanksgiving fun of dogs and nieces and sisters and silliness.

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. I did!

18 minutes long
18 rounds
6 exercises
3 times through

set your interval timers to 18 rounds, 10 seconds rest, 50 seconds on

Mountain Climbers
Butt raises
Burpees
Bridges
Split kicks
Knee slaps

Mountain Climbers
In plank, put on foot underneath you. Jump and switch legs. Each switch is one rep.

Butt raises
In elbow plank, bend one leg 90 degrees, so the bottom of your foot is towards the ceiling. Lift this leg up, using your butt. That’s one rep. Switch legs.

Burpees
Mod as needed. Jump your feet out and go into a pushup. Go down on your knees if this is hard, or you can always go all the way down to the floor and don’t do a pushup. Jump your feet back into your hands. From here, jump up, one rep.

Bridges. Lay down, with your feet flat on the floor and legs bent. Raise your body up to straighten it, using your butt muscles and our core. Each lift up is one rep.

Split kicks
Hand and feet on the floor, with your butt in the air, making a triangle. Lift your legs up and shoot them out to your sides, splitting them. Each split is one rep.

Knee slaps
Also known as jump tucks. From standing position, lift your legs up to your body as far and fast as you can, slapping your legs with your hands. Each jump/slap is one rep.

Sister and sisters:

and starbuck, who clearly hates the farm:

Disclaimer: Ask your doctor, be careful, do these at your own risk, I am not a doctor!

Also I’m sorry sorry sorry about the huge gap in posts. I do have some lined up and done though… ! One workout already shot here at my parents – that photo above being an outtake. So this time you’ll get to see pretty stuff in the background and not my fireplace.

fun poppy, really peppy, great video

sexy, big voiced soulful

this song is just too beautiful and gorgeous and moving not to include. a member of an insanely talented family.