Wednesday Workout: Progression Bootcamp Stations

August 5, 2015August 5, 2015Leave a comment

Hi! Can you believe the weather yesterday? I had to cancel bootcamp because it was so awful in Wakefield and we didn’t want to be caught in another storm. Thankfully I worked out during my lunch break otherwise it would’ve been really hard to get myself to the gym after work! Speaking of my bootcamp, today’s workout is another workout I did with my bootcampers a few weeks ago. Everyone loved it and one person even told me she did it with her roommate last week, so I figured I should probably share it with you, too!

This workout is great because:

you don’t need any equipment besides a timer
it can be done anywhere
it works everything: upper, lower, core, cardio
it’s always changing so you won’t get bored

I’ve mentioned before that I don’t really like 60 second intervals of work. I do them, but mostly when we are going right from one thing to the next because I know time will get wasted in the transitions. I prefer 45 seconds of work because I think you get a much more effective blast of work in 45 seconds rather than 60 seconds and you reduce the risk of losing form and slacking off.

For this workout, I call it a progression because every station focuses on one particular move or exercise and you progress up to more intense variations of it. By the 3rd exercise in each station, you’re really feeling the burn- trust me! I’ve shortened the workout for the purposes of this post (I feel like the shorter workouts tend to be more popular than the longer ones on here), but will also let you know what additional stations we did at the end in case you have more time when you try this out.

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Wednesday Workout: Outdoor Bootcamp Stations Workout

July 22, 20151 Comment

Good morning! As some of you may already know, I started my own bootcamp at my office for coworkers and anyone else who might be in the area on Tuesday nights. What I love about leading my own bootcamp is that there are no rules 😉 I can decide what I want to teach and what equipment I want to use and there’s a bit of a relaxed feeling for me as the instructor since it’s a “fun” thing. Granted, I still want to make good workouts, but I also know I don’t have ample weights and other equipment at my disposal so it forces me to get creative and incorporate more “fun” things that still give a good workout.

Last week I had a request to do stations, which is always a great format for bootcamps because it allows people to work at their own pace and it keeps them moving around by jumping from station to station which helps to keep their mind off the time! We did 10 stations at 60 seconds each and I worked to organize the exercises so that they’d be working their whole body and alternating between strength and cardio. I don’t usually bring equipment for my outdoor bootcamp, but thought some bands, a jump rope and a weight would be a good addition. The verdict? The girls loved the workout and couldn’t believe it went by so fast!

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Wednesday Workout: Stair Cardio Blast & Total Body Circuits

July 8, 2015July 8, 20154 Comments

Hi there! I wanted to share a workout with you that I did last week. It left me incredibly sweaty, and even though it was likely due in part to the weather, I still think a lot of it was a result of the workout, which is a good enough reason to share, amiright?!

Even though I have some outdoor workouts on the blog, sometimes I really have to mentally force myself to do something other than just run. I don’t know what it is, but mentally I feel like that’s a better workout, although I really know steady-state cardio isn’t the best bang for your buck when it comes to high calorie burn both during and after your workout. But, that’s a whole post for another day! Today, let’s focus on the fact that I got outside and did a workout other than just running- a victory in and of itself!

I’ve always wanted to utilize the stairs and turf fields at the soccer fields near my house, so it was a perfect time to do that. These fields are awesome- they’ve got a baseball field and soccer field and a kiddie soccer area and playground area and everything is brand new! They’re usually packed at night with soccer leagues, but during the day it was just me and a few other random people, which was great because I was able to do my workout in privacy (for the most part).

What you’ll do for this workout (after your warm up) is do 4 sets of stair runs, all with 10 jumping jacks when you reach the top. If stairs don’t do it for you or aren’t available to you, feel free to do 4 cardio exercises for 30-45 seconds each (think: high knees, burpees, jumping jacks, jump squats, butt kicks, skaters, etc.). When the first stair set is complete, you’ll do the first bodyweight circuit 4 times through. Repeat the stairs and then do the next bodyweight circuit 4 times through. If you’re feeling good- go ahead and do the stairs for a 3rd time!
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Wednesday Workout: Quickie 20 minute body weight AMRAP

June 24, 2015June 23, 2015Leave a comment

Hi! I’m popping in this morning to share a quickie workout I did while I was in Maine a few weekends ago. When I got up, I got changed right into my workout clothes but just wasn’t sure I was really feeling a workout. This rarely happens to me, so I decided to just go with it and if I decided to workout later, great. If not, great. I ended up offering to vacuum and mop for my parents, which, in a 3,000 sq. foot house is quite a workout in and of itself! I loveeee those types of active chores so even though I was helping my parents, I was really helping myself get more movement in 😉

However, after I finished cleaning I found myself feeling more motivated to get a little workout in. The sun was shining and I had the privilege of working out outside in private, so I came up with a quickie 20 minute body weight AMRAP (As Many Rounds As Possible) workout that left me sweaty, newly tanned and sore the next day. Win, win, win in my book!

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Wednesday Workout: Men’s Health Inspired Circuit & Cardio Blast Workout

June 17, 2015June 16, 20151 Comment

Good morning! Hope your Wednesday is off to a great start! I’m here to share a workout that I did at home a few weeks ago. It was a rainy Monday, which meant no running outside for me- I’m not ashamed to admit that I am a fair-weather runner 🙂 I put this workout together by combining a workout I found in RM’s Men’s Health magazine with some other exercises I wanted to do on that particular day… plus a little cardio blast… #becausecardio.

The way you complete the workout is by (after a warm up, of course) completing each exercise in the strength circuit for 60 seconds, moving from one to the next with little or no rest. For exercises where it says (30R/L), it means to perform the exercise on each side for 30 seconds. In between the strength rounds/circuits, perform the cardio blast.

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