Category: At-home workout

Wednesday Workout: Bodyweight Total Body Workout (30 mins or less!)

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Good morning! As I mentioned yesterday, I did a great bodyweight workout when I was home at my parents last weekend. I haven’t been lifting many weights these days, but when I woke up on Saturday I just didn’t want to get packed up and head to the gym so another bodyweight workout it was! Even though I wasn’t going to be lifting weights, I still wanted a tough workout so I decided to load up on reps.

This workout isn’t anything fancy, but it did leave me with a nice burn during the workout and a little bit of the “I worked out yesterday” feeling, so I’ll chalk it up as a solid workout! The way it works is you do the first combo move for 12 reps (each side, if there’s an option) and then the second exercise for 10 reps. Complete a total of 3 rounds before doing the cardio tabata round, which will be 2 different cardio exercises (complete each 4 times), usually complementing the strength exercises.

Bodyweight Total Body Workout

A few explanations to help you out…

  • Lunge/squat combo: lunge back with the right leg and return to center and complete a squat, then lunge back with the left leg and back to center. For the tabata round, you’ll do the same format of the exercises, you’ll just add in the jumping factor 😉
  • Triceps dips & toe taps: Perform a triceps dip (hands and feet on the ground) and then reach opposite hand to opposite foot, while engaging the core. Dip and then repeat on the other side.
  • Superman pulls- While laying on your stomach with your arms extended out in front of you. Engage the core and lift your chest off the ground. Once in this position, pull your elbows back to your ribcage, squeezing your shoulder blades together and going through the motion like you have weights in your hand.
  • Curtsy lunge & knee crunch- Start by standing on the left leg. Bring the right leg back and instead of placing it straight back, bring it back to an angle so that it crosses behind your left leg- great move for the outer glutes! After your lunge back, ensure you have your balance and bring your right knee up to your right elbow, engaging your obliques. After 12 reps on one side, repeat on the other.
  • Downdog push-ups- In downward facing dog position, drop your head downwards to the ground & press back up.

As an extra finisher, I completed the following:

  • 45 seconds jump rope, 10 hand release push-ups
  • 45 seconds jump rope, 8 hand release push-ups
  • 45 seconds jump rope, 6 hand release push-ups
  • 45 seconds jump rope, 4 hand release push-ups
  • 45 seconds jump rope, 2 hand release push-ups

This was killer at the end!

If you’re looking for a quick, but efficient workout to do at your house or at a hotel, this is one to try!

Questions for you: Do you like to lift heavy weights or do more bodyweight style workouts?

Wednesday Workout: 5 Minute Progression Bodyweight AMRAP Circuits

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Good morning! Thank you for all of your kind works on our engagement post yesterday! We are so excited about this next step in our relationship, but since this isn’t just a wedding blog, I wanted to pop in to share a quickie bodyweight workout that I did with my bootcampers last week. It was a workout that was able to be completed in about 30 minutes, which is always a good thing in my eyes!

The idea of increasing reps on one exercise in each circuit is loosely based off of the Metabolic Chain workouts a lot of my favorite fitness experts talk about often: Jen Sinkler, Neghar Fonooni, Jill Coleman and Jade Teta.

You’ll be increasing reps for the first exercise in each circuit (in a progression sort of way)- for instance, set the timer for 5 minutes and complete 2 push-ups, 5 pulsing squat/regular squat combos, 5 burpees & 5 sit-ups… then do the circuit with 4 push-ups, etc. Go as many rounds as you can in 5 minutes and if you work hard and fast (but always focusing on FORM over speed), you’ll be sweating and breathing heavy in no time!

5 minute progression AMRAP circuit
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Weekending: Moving & Labor Day Weekend Edition

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Well, here we are- Labor Day has come and gone. RM and I were talking about how while we can’t believe summer is on its way out, summer actually didn’t feel incredibly short. We didn’t have a lot of weekend plans, weddings or travel this summer so we were able to take advantage of many weekends on the Cape and a few in Maine which was different than last summer. I also don’t remember a time when I went to the beach as much as I did this year. Whether just scooting over to Constitution Beach in East Boston or going to the Cape or Wells Beach in Maine, we did some serious beaching!

Last weekend’s long weekend started on Thursday when it was move day for me. While I don’t like packing and unpacking, the actual physical act of moving doesn’t bother me- I look at it as another workout!

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I had never hired movers before and although I had a slightly argumentative phone call with  the owner at one point, things ended up going very smoothly. Thanks to a recommendation by Stephanie, I hired Secure Movers and was impressed not only with their rates, but also with their speed. We (yes, I helped move boxes down my stairs and into the truck), were able to completely load up the truck, drive to Watertown and unload the truck in just under 2 hours. I call that a success!

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After they left, I spent some time getting the extra bedroom set up, grabbed lunch at the local Whole Foods (and an ice cream at the Market Basket in Chelsea- was totally craving one!) and then headed back to my apartment to clean.

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When all was said and done, I walked over 26K steps and climbed 100 flights of stairs. I honestly don’t remember the last time I felt so physically, mentally and emotionally drained. Even though I am so excited about our move, it was a weird feeling to be moving out of my last “single girl” apartment.

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Thankfully, dinner and wine at Kelly’s Pub (awesome local joint in EB) made me feel muuuuuch better and I slept like a baby that night.

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Friday morning I worked from RM’s apartment for a half day and then fit in a quickie workout, which actually left me sore for a few days! I ran 1.5 miles and then did this tabata workout, which I still really loved! We went to the new apartment to do some stuff and then grabbed dinner at Jeveli’s before heading south for a weekend at the Cape.

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(Ashley P- finally opened the bottle of La Crema that you gave me a long time ago! I always save my “nice” bottles of wine and figured moving was a great time to crack it open!)

The rest of the weekend was spent relaxing- both at the house and on the beach! We had a delicious dinner on Saturday night consisting of burgers, hot dogs, chicken, sausage, rice, salad and corn on the cob.

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Sunday morning I fit in another quickie workout: run 1 mile, 4 tabata rounds (squats & lunges, push-ups & jabs, high knees & squat jacks, side dips & standing crunches), run 1 mile. Short and sweet! We attempted a day trip to Martha’s Vinyard, but logistically it didn’t work out so we ended up just heading back to Craigville Beach.

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It was the perfect beach day, but unfortunately I only made it in the water once because I got stung by a jelly fish… TWICE! Hurt so freaking bad! Roberto later got stung on his neck- it was weird! I used to think that going to the beach was such a process: packing the bags, chairs, lotion, lunches, drinks, etc., but this summer we have nailed the process and can get ready and on the beach in no time! For lunch on Sunday and Monday, we opted for “wrapless wraps”- something I think we are going to do a lot more of! Basically, we used the turkey as the “wrap”, then layered cheese, hummus and spinach and rolled it up. I also put rice in mine and Roberto put pickles in his.

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Really enjoyed this “healthier” and “lighter” lunch option!

For dinner, we stopped in at Baxters in Hyannis for a drink and then had dinner at Tugboats.

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Monday morning I went for a 3 mile jog before an earlier beach day.

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We contemplated heading back to Boston early, but the weather was just too perfect to not take advantage of it. One more beach day was well worth the traffic on the way home!

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All in all it was a really fantastic weekend, and perfect timing since last week was stressful and this week likely won’t be much different. I really focused on being present in the moment and soaking in all the goodness that the weekend brought rather than stressing about all that we have to do this week. Such a simple change in perspective really made all the difference in the world. I don’t like living in limbo and chaos, but I’m really working on not having any expectations for the rest of the move and kitchen renovations and just letting things be. If we have to eat out every night- so be it. If we don’t have a kitchen sink for a while and have to wash veggies in the bathroom- it’s only temporary. If I drink wine every night and break my “rule”, who cares! This sort of mentality doesn’t happen naturally for me, but I realize it will make the next few weeks a whole lot better if I do it!

I hope all of you had a great long weekend, too! And for those of you with recent moves, I feel your pain! I’m not sure how much I’ll be blogging this week because on top of moving I am teaching on Wednesday and subbing on Thursday (6:30pm cardio kickboxing- Wellington BSC), but I’ll pop in when I can 🙂

Questions for you: Did you grill this past weekend? Did you go to any Labor Day Parties? Do you prefer the beach, lake or pool? Was this summer busy for you or did you have time to relax?

Wednesday Workout: 24 Minute Bodyweight Tabata Workout

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Hello! I’m popping in quickly to share a workout I did in a one-on-one training session with one of my bootcampers last week (Hi, Kerri!). She specifically told me to post it because it sufficiently kicked her butt in less than a half hour- and with our busy schedules these days, who doesn’t want that?! I am all about short, but effective workouts and this one satisfies both of those things. Even better? It can be done anywhere since it requires no equipment- no excuses 😉

The way it works is I picked 2 strength moves in each set and tried to compliment those with the tabata cardio rounds. You’ll do the strength moves for 30 seconds each and 2 rounds then you’ll do the tabata cardio (20 seconds on, 10 seconds rest X8 rounds= total of 4 minutes).

24 minute bodyweight tabata workout
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Wednesday Workout: Ramp Lunges & Total Body Circuit Bootcamp

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Hi! I hope your Wednesday is off to a fantastic start 🙂 I think you’re really going to like today’s workout… 1. because it’s no equipment necessary so you can do it anywhere and 2. because it makes the booty burnnnn! I’m always trying to come up with fun and unique workouts for my Tuesday night bootcampers. These girls are paying me money to workout for an hour, so I want them to feel like they’re getting their money’s worth AND be able to hopefully take some of the workouts home with them to do on their own.

I usually try to get to the gym during my lunch break to do MY workout so that I can focus on them during class, but last week it just wasn’t in the cards for me to get to the gym before teaching so I ended up doing it with them. It was fun to be getting sweaty and breathing heavy with them- I think they appreciated seeing me work as hard as them 😉 I also heard one of the girls asking another how class was since she wasn’t able to make it. I walked in on her going “oh, that must have been a hard workout. She always makes the workouts harder when she does them with us!” I had to laugh because although this workout did leave me sucking wind, I had planned the workout long before I realized I’d be doing it with them! It worked out perfectly, though, because this was a workout I didn’t want to miss- hope you like it as much as we all did!

Ramp lunges & total body circuit bootcamp

So, the way it works is you’re always going to be going back to the benchmark exercise, which is: lunging up the hill or ramp (we used the ramp in a parking garage!), jog down, sprint up the hill/ramp, jog down and then repeat it once more. When you finish 2 rounds of that, you’ll do each bodyweight pyramid circuit above. The moves should be fairly common moves, so I’ll spare you (and myself!) from writing out all the details 🙂 I will give you some notes in terms of reps:

  • 30 side dips- 30 to each side
  • 20 side lunges- 10 to each side
  • 30 butt kicks- each leg comes up 30 times
  • 20 1-legged deadlifts- 10 on each leg
  • 50 high knees- each knee comes up 50 times
  • 30 mountain climbers- each knee comes in 30 times
  • 20 plank w/shoulder taps- each hand taps to the opposite shoulder 20 times
  • HRPU= hand release push-up

This is a great workout to take on the road or to do outside near your home if you’re looking to try something knew and not go to the gym. I don’t know about you, but I’m trying to avoid the gym as much as possible as the summer comes to an end. We’ll have all winter long where we won’t be able to workout outside, so soak it up!

Questions for you: Have you ever tried lunging on an incline? Do you like to sprint? Are you avoiding the gym, too?