Wednesday Workout: 15 Minute Step 360 HIIT Workout

November 19, 2014November 18, 20145 Comments

Hi there! I know you’re probably sick of me talking about the Step 360, but I’m kind of obsessed with it and not ready to stop talking about it 🙂 As I’ve mentioned, I was lucky enough to win it at MANIA this year and I couldn’t be more thankful. I’ve always wanted to add a BOSU ball to my workout equipment collection, but I have to say that I think adding the Step 360 was a better piece to add.

What I love is that you are still working and challenging your balance, but your form doesn’t get compromised as a result since there is a flat surface to stand on (versus the non-flat surface of a BOSU). I find that I’m able to work my balance, yet still work on range of motion and strength training with much better and stronger form because of the flat surface. When I’m on a BOSU, I’m typically wobbling all over the place! I also learned in one of my sessions that you should never stand/squat/lunge/etc. on a BOSU because it causes poor alignment due to the fact your feet cannot support you in the way they should (like they do on the ground or a flat surface). I pretended like I had never done that, but inside I was cringing as I thought back to all the times I’ve stood on the BOSU for squats and lunges and just to add an extra balance challenge during bicep curls and things like that. Needless to say, I won’t be doing that anymore 😉

I also like that with the Step 360 you can inflate one or both chambers, depending on your fitness level. Only inflating one makes it a little easier since there’s less instability and since you’re closer to the ground. I’ve been working out with it having both inflated and I’m continuously surprised by how much added intensity and difficulty the Step 360 gives me!

I have a workout for you today that I did on the Step 360 last week, but you can totally use a step if you don’t have a Step 360- I took this workout and amended it to teach in my UXF Burn class.

I had some fun taking videos and pictures for some of the moves to give you a better idea of what it looks like to be active on the Step.

Goblet Squat:

Squat Hold w/Leg Touch Downs

http://vimeo.com/112118977

Burpee/Push-Up Step Jump

http://vimeo.com/112110765

I’ve already used the step for 3 workouts, so don’t be surprised if you see more workouts on here that use it!

Questions for you: What’s your favorite piece of at-home workout equipment? If you could have anything to add to your at-home workout collection, what would it be?

Wednesday Workout: NBGNO Event- How to Stay Fit While on the Road

November 12, 2014November 10, 201412 Comments

Good morning! If you’ve been following B2B for a while, you know that I am a BIG fan of staying active while on the road. I don’t think I’ve ever gone away without my sneakers and workout clothes packed because it’s really important for me to find time to get in at least a little movement in while I’m away. I love the way it energizes me and helps me “earn my treats”, as I like to say. I’ve given tips to on how to stay healthy while on the road before and I’ve shared multiple hotel room workouts as a way to show you that working out and eating healthy/making healthy choices while traveling CAN happen.

So, why am I talking about this topic again? Well, the New Balance Girls Night Out (“NBGNO”) event I went to last week was all about staying healthy while on the road and how Westin Hotels make that so easy. A few years ago, New Balance and Westin teamed up to make workout while on the road very doable. I experienced this while staying at a Westin in Atlanta. I took advantage of their running map/route, as well as the gym.

Not only does the Westin provide you with a running route, but they also have their “pack light, stay fit” program, which allows you to borrow workout clothes, socks and sneakers when you travel. They wash the clothes and shoe inserts between uses and they let you keep the socks.

And, don’t worry- you won’t be wearing crappy old gear- look at this stuff! They always have the newest sneaker styles and current clothes.

Pretty awesome looking stuff if you ask me!

Anyway… back to the event! Caroline and Sherri did a FANTASTIC job hosting the latest- and final- 2014 NBGNO.

After their introduced themselves and kicked off the event, we had the choice to join the Westin Run Concierge and Caroline for a run around the city or stay with Sherri and Chris, a Westin trainer, for a bootcamp. Since I fell and scraped up my knee pretty badly during the last dark Boston run, I opted for the boot camp.

I liked how Chris explained what we were doing, why we were doing it, how it was beneficial and right/wrong ways to do it. He was super knowledgeable and I’ve changed my form on some exercises because of his tips. We worked in a 40/20 format where we did an exercise for 40 seconds and rested for 20 seconds. We did 4 different exercises, mostly focusing on core and glutes and holy moly my glutes were sore for 3 days!

After we finished our workouts, we were able to have food, drinks (have I mentioned how much I love events that offer free wine?!) and mingle with other attendees. Shortly thereafter, Caroline and Sherri shared more about Westin’s “pack light, stay fit” program, as well as tips they follow for staying healthy while on the road. I love that they asked the audience what are some tricks we do to make sure we get a workout in. Here are some that were shared:

Put your workout clothes, shoes, iPod, headphones, asprin (in case you’ve been out late the night before…), etc. next to your bed so that when you get up, you see it and can get dressed and to the gym before you realize you’re even awake!
Workout in the morning so that the day doesn’t get away from you before you realize you haven’t worked out.
Bribe yourself- say if you get to the gym for 10 minutes, you can have a glass of wine. Bets are that you’ll stay for 10 minutes once you’re there!
Workout in your room if you don’t want to pack your sneakers. On top of offering workout gear, Westin also has a partnership with Holly Perkins and you can do one of her workouts on the TV. This way you can workout without even leaving your room.
Print out workouts from your favorite fitness blog or write down a workout the night before. If I have a workout planned, I’m more motivated to do it
Take advantage of where you are. New city? take your workout outside and go for a run or walk. This serves as not only a workout, but a tour, too!
Make it fun by asking friends/coworkers to join you. I’ve even lead a bootcamp on a bachelorette weekend! I threw it out there assuming everyone would laugh at me, but you know what? Everyone participated. I think part of the reason why people don’t workout while on vacation or a work trip is because they think there isn’t time or that there isn’t a gym. Once you show them that there IS time and that you don’t need a gym, they’re always really happy to join you and so happy afterwards!

What do you think? Do you guys follow any of these tips? Do you have any that you can share with us?

Again, big thank you to New Balance for giving me the chance to participate in such a fun event. And thanks for another awesome swag bag!

Questions for you: Have you heard of Westin’s “Pack light, stay fit” program? How do you stay fit/active/healthy while on the road?

Wednesday Workout: 15 Minute Full Body HIIT Workout

November 5, 2014November 3, 20147 Comments

Happy Wednesdayyyy! I have a workout for you today that I adapted from a workout that I taught in UXF Burn. The way this one works, is you work for 45 seconds and rest for 15 seconds before you move to the next exercise. I set it up so that you do an upper or lower (or combo) strength move followed by a core move and lastly a cardio move. This pattern repeats for the entire workout and I promise you’ll feel this the next day. I did it after I ran a mile or 2 on the treadmill and it was a perfect finisher!

I’ll warn you, those back to back lunge then lung hold exercises are killer! I also found that the only time my heart rate really came down at all was during the core exercises. I burned over 300 calories just by 2 rounds of this… not too shabby!

If you’re looking for other HIIT workouts or workouts with a similar format, check out these:

Wednesday Workout: 20 Minute Bootcamp HIIT Workout

Wednesday Workout: 30 minute total body tabata workout

Wednesday Workout: 30 minute burpee spectacular workout
Questions for you: How long do you like to work out for? If you’re doing a HIIT workout, what do you like for work/rest times?

Wednesday Workout: Run the Bases

October 29, 2014October 28, 20142 Comments

If you’ve been reading my blog for a while, you know that I taught my own outdoor bootcamp in Wakefield for a few months over the summer/early fall. What I loved about the bootcamp was it gave me the ability to a. workout outside and b. get creative with the workouts and formats since I didn’t have any weights or traditional gym equipment to use. Before my first class, I asked you guys on Facebook for outdoor bootcamp suggestions. Athena and Cara had some great suggestions and this workout was inspired by Athena’s Baseball Diamond Bootcamp Workout that she posted a while ago. The funniest thing is that I didn’t look at the workout before I made mine, yet I somehow picked the 1st 2 traveling exercises that are identical to hers… oops! We are apparently more similar than we thought!

The idea behind my workout, which is a different from the format Athena uses, is you do the designated exercises at each base before moving on to the next base. We all started at different bases (2 to a base- could be more if you have more people doing this) and went around until we all completed the exercises at each base. Before we repeated the workout, I had them do 25 burpees 😉

I tried to incorporate strength, cardio and core at each base, with the easier exercises at 25 reps and the harder ones at 10. For every exercises where you do things on the right and left (lunges, skaters, dead lifts, etc.), perform the number of designated reps on each leg. Also, for the second round we did 12 reps of each exercise rather than 10 and 25- so yes, this made the 25 reps seem much easier but the 10 rep exercises much harder!

Although we all got super dirty, we agreed that this workout was really fun! I hope you try it…and Athena- thank you for the inspiration!

Questions for you: What’s your favorite way to workout outside? Have you ever done a baseball diamond workout?

Wednesday Workout: Outdoor Stations Bootcamp Workout

October 15, 2014October 14, 20144 Comments

Hi there! I’ve got a fun workout for you today. If you’ve been reading for a while, you know I starting teaching my own outdoor bootcamp in Wakefield on Tuesday nights. Per usual, I try to mix things up so that we aren’t doing the same thing from week to week. Last week I taught my first stations workout, which is generally a crowd pleaser in my normal group exercise classes. Holding true to that standard, the girls seemed to enjoy the workout and we all agree that the class flew by! It was a fun workout because besides a band and a stability ball, we used everything you’d find in a standard park as our “equipment”.

Here’s what you need: wall or step for jump squats and squats and a bench for step ups and tricep dips. If you don’t have a stability ball, you can do a regular plank and if you don’t have a band, you can do partner lat pulls or superman pulls. Easy enough, right?! I also added in an equipment free cardio blast between rounds.

Most of the moves are fairly common, but here are a few explanations:

Wall squats: perform a regular squat, but go low enough so that your butt touches the wall
Reverse lunge & knee twist: lunge back on the right leg and then bring that knee up in front of you and cross your left elbow to your right knee. Repeat on the left after 30 seconds.
Sit with your legs extended out straight. Put the band around your flexed feet and pull your arms back, squeezing your elbows towards each other.

If you have any other questions on the moves, please ask! This is a great workout to do with a friend, but can also be done by yourself at your home if you don’t have access to a park.