Category: At-home workout

Wednesday Workout: Mini Circuit Workout

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Hi there! I hope you all enjoyed last week’s “Wednesday Workout” post, which focused on burpees! I heart burpees. A lot.

Anyway! I wanted to give you an actual workout to try this week. I taught this in my SHRED class and really enjoyed it. The workout itself actually came from Fitnessista, but I added my own touches with the cardio blasts and changing up the reps a bit.

Mini Circuit Workout

Everything should be pretty much self-explanatory, but if you have questions, obviously leave me a comment or shoot me an email.  For the step-ups, I had my members stack 6 risers under each side of the bench and hold a weight while they stepped up. This is KILLER for the quads and glutes; I’m totally obsessed with step-ups now. I gave the class the option to do whatever burpee they felt like doing- so nice of me, right?! 😉

Let me know if you try this! I foresee this being a new “go to” at-home workout as you don’t need much equipment to complete it.

Questions for you: What’s your favorite leg exercise? What’s your favorite fitness blog?

Wednesday Workout: Burpees, burpees, burpees. I <3 Burpees!

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This week’s “Wednesday Workout” isn’t necessarily a workout, but rather an ode to burpees! It’s no secret around here how much I love burpees; in fact, there’s RARELY a time where I teach a class that doesn’t include them. Lately, I’ve been learning all sorts of new ones that I’ve been bringing into my classes and based on my member’s reactions to them, they love to hate them!  Which is why I am writing this post for you today: I want to share my love of burpees and all my favorite types of burpees with you! I am hoping you’ll either incorporate them into your workouts that you do or teach, because they really are one of the best cardio workouts.

*Side Note: I thought it would be fun to incorporate both step-by-step pictures AND video’s for my favorite burpees- let me know what you think! I apologize that the video’s are blurry; it must be something internal because the camera wasn’t moving when the videos were taken and I took a couple “test” videos and those came out just like these. I hope you can ignore that and focus on the burpees instead 🙂

1. Basic, most common burpee- this is the one I did up until just months ago. Starting from standing, place your hands on the ground, jump or step your feet out so you’re in high plank position, jump or step your feet back into your hands and do a nice, big jump at the end!

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IMG 0183 from Monique Gagnon on Vimeo.

2. “Real” burpee (or, CrossFit burpee)- Start out just as you would when you do a basic burpee, but instead of jumping out into high plank position, jump out and drop your whole body onto the ground. From there, lift your whole body up, jump your feet in and perform a big jump at the end.

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IMG 0184 from Monique Gagnon on Vimeo.

3. Surfer burpee- Perform a “real” burpee, but instead of jumping your feet in and doing a big jump at the end, push yourself up from the ground and land in a “surfer” stance. Drop back down to your stomach, jump up and land in a surfer stance at the other angle. I love these because they work your legs A LOT when you land in the low squat “surfer” stance.

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IMG 0185 from Monique Gagnon on Vimeo.
4. Frogger burpee- Perform a big forward jump, drop down into a “real” burpee, push yourself up and do a 180* jump so you’re facing the other direction. Jump in that direction, drop down into a “real” burpee, and continue on.

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IMG 0186 from Monique Gagnon on Vimeo.

5. Burpee/Push-up/Side plank/Tuck Jump- I have no idea what to call this burpee, but I recently learned it from someone at a work conference (not a workout conference, mind you, I just talk about fitness all the time and found someone else who loves fitness!). For this one, you start out doing a basic burpee, but when you jump out to high plank, do 1 push-up then open up to a side plank, come back to center and do 1 push-up, open up to a side plank on the other side, come back to center and do 1 push-up and then jump your feet in and instead of just jumping up, do a TUCK JUMP at the end of the burpee. Killer!

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IMG 0187 from Monique Gagnon on Vimeo.

6. One-Legged Burpee- Follow all steps as the “basic” burpee, but instead of jumping out with both legs, tuck in one knee and only jump back with one leg. Alternate legs jumping back for each burpee. You can also hold a small bender ball in between your knees here, too!

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IMG 0188 from Monique Gagnon on Vimeo.

7. Angled Burpee Jumps- Start out with a “basic” burpee, but when you jump your feet out into a high plank, jump them out to the left. Jump them back into the center (at your hands) and then back out to the right, back to your hands, back out straight, and then jump them in and do a big jump at the end. So, it goes: down, out left, in, out right, in, out center, in, jump up.

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IMG 0189 from Monique Gagnon on Vimeo.

8. Burpee w/squat landing- This is similar to the “surfer burpee” in that you don’t perform a big jump at the end of the burpee. Instead, when you jump your feet in, you stick your landing in a nice, deep squat. In addition, lift your hands so you have to balance in that low squat. After your landing is “stuck”, place your hands back down, perform a “real” burpee and then push yourself up and stick that low squat landing.

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IMG 0190 from Monique Gagnon on Vimeo.

Your turn!! Share with me: What is your FAVORITE burpee? Least favorite? Did I miss any?

Weekly Workouts: On the road & back at the gym

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Good morning! How’s everyone doing today? Even though I was on the road for part of the week last week, I still had a really great week of workouts AND I was able to teach all my classes- win, win! I’m traveling to Atlanta today and tomorrow and am hoping that after that, my work travel will slow down a bit. Don’t worry, I won’t try to run outside like I did the last time I was in Atlanta! I will go to the gym and that’s about it!

Last Week’s Workouts

  • Monday- I ran 3.25 miles before work and travel. I was having technical difficulties which frustrates me more than it should. My watch battery light was flashing so I used that and then also used Map My Run as backup in case my watch died before my run was over. I accidentally ended my Map My Run workout .25 miles into my run and had to restart it, so that distance was always behind my watch, but then my watch died 2.75 miles into my run so that didn’t matter anyway. Clearly, these are not life altering issues, but they annoy me!
  • Tuesday- I did a 30 minute hotel room workout that I will post on Wednesday! I know I usually post my class workouts in my Wednesday Workout posts, but I feel like people might like to see more workouts that can be done anywhere, and without any equipment- am I right?
  • Wednesday- All went well with my flight and I got to the gym super early so I ran 3.5 miles through Cambridge (along the Charles- the view just doesn’t get old) and then taught a new type of format in my UXF Burn class, which I think everyone liked! My hamstrings were REALLY tight the next day!

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  • Thursday- I taught the same format in my SHRED class that I had taught in my UXF Burn class on Wednesday, just with different moves and then I taught kickboxing. It was the same routine I did last week when I nearly drowned in my own sweat, only this time I didn’t sweat so much!
  • Friday- REST DAY 🙂 Besides lifting my wine glass when I went to dinner with Athena and Ashley 😉
  • Saturday- I ran the Color Me Rad run with my friend, Lauren, and her friend, Amy. I’ll recap that race later this week!

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  • Sunday- I went to the Wellington BSC and did 30 minutes of cardio on a machine (sometimes doing mindless cardio is exactly what I need/want) and then went to BodyPump. I wish I could have that workout in my schedule once a week- such a good way for me to take time to solely focus on strength training!!

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This Week’s Workouts

  • Monday- I hope to have completed a nice 3-4 mile run by the time this post goes up! I will also do some abs to complete the workout.
  • Tuesday- I’ll be in Atlanta and will stick to just going to the gym or doing a hotel room workout this week! No running outside for me; I learned my lesson!
  • Wednesday- Probably some cardio before teaching UXF Burn. Any suggestions from anyone on what type of format you’d like to see or specific exercises/burpees??
  • Thursday- Teaching SHRED and kickboxing. I want to make a new kickboxing routine and download new music; I’m sick of all my current mixes!
  • Friday- This might be a rest day again. I have been enjoying Friday’s as rest days!
  • Saturday- Teaching kickboxing at the YMCA and then heading up to Maine for little Emma’s first birthday!!
  • Sunday- If I rest on Friday, I’ll probably do something when I’m home in Maine, but I may end up taking another rest day.

Questions for you: What type of workouts would you like to see more/less of? Ones I’ve taught? Hotel room workouts? No weights required? What’s your favorite burpee? Has anyone done the newest BodyPump release? I LOVED it.

Wednesday Workout: Hotel Gym Circuit

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Hi B2B readers! The gym at the Stowe Mountain Lodge was unbelievable! Not even just for a hotel, either! It was spacious and fully equipped with up-to-date machines and all sorts of “Monique-type toys” to incorporate into my workouts. I wanted to share with you what I did on Friday morning as it left me tired and sweaty! You’ll notice that the equipment I used can be found at most gyms and if you have the opportunity to go to the gym at an off-peak hour, you can totally set yourself up with a similar station somewhere!

Hotel Circuit Workout

Most of these moves are moves you’ve either done in my classes or seen on the blog, but if you have questions, just let me know! I did learn a new type of burpee that I can’t WAIT to scare show my UXF Burn members 😉

I hope you all have a wonderful Wednesday and hopefully I’ll see some of you tonight in class! I’ll keep you updated on Facebook to let you know whether or not I’ll be there!

Questions for you: Do you like to print out workouts you find on blogs and health/fitness sites and bring them to the gym with you for your own workouts? Or, are you more likely to stick to machine cardio and normal lifting if you’re on your own?

Weekly Workouts- Travel Edition

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Hi friends! How are you doing today? I am good, besides the fact I am not ready to get back on the road for another work trip. Luckily, this one is short and if all goes well with travel on Wednesday, I should be back for my 6:30 class at Central!

As all of you probably know, I was away for a work conference most of last week. The trip was a blast (I promise, I’ll recap everything later this week) and I am happy to report the fact that I got in a couple awesome workouts! I am hoping this week will be the same as I should have already gone running before this post gets published and will try to get in a workout Tuesday morning before a long day at our client’s office.

Last Week’s Workouts

  • Monday- I went to the Wellington BSC and did my own UXF/CrossFit inspired workout consisting of a brief warm up and 4 rounds of: 500M row, 60 seconds ropes, 60 seconds kettlebell swings, 1-legged push-ups up and down the ladder, 60 seconds pike plank with feet in TRX straps. Felt great!

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  • Tuesday- I got up in did a jump rope and ab circuit and was sore the next day!

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  • Wednesday- My coworker, Tim, and I skipped the ice cream social at the conference and went to the gym. I let him run ME through a workout (I had to use every bit of my self-control to not take over the workout!) because I wanted to focus on isolated strength moves. We did back and biceps, which Tim lead and then I lead abs and then we went on a 2 mile crazy trail run. It.Was.Awesome. I’ll save most of the pictures for my VT recap, but here are a few:

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  • Thursday- Tim and I had planned on working out in the afternoon, but ended up going to Ben and Jerry’s. Sometimes you need an ice cream 🙂
  • Friday- Tim and I met at the gym before breakfast for a morning workout since we were hitting the road around 10:30. We did our separate workouts (I ran on the treadmill 1.5 miles to warm up and then did a circuit I’ll hopefully post on Wednesday), but joined together at the end to do abs. Tim loved what I ran us through which was fun! We used a medicine ball and did lots of Dynamax-esque throws. Loved it!

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  • Saturday- I taught the most sweaty kickboxing class ever. I know I say that all the time, but literally this was like nothing I have ever seen. I could barely see the mirror in front of me it was so coated in sweat! Members/friends agreed!

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  • Sunday- Rest. My back was feeling SUPER tight, as was my right quad so I decided to take it easy.

This Week’s Workouts

  • Monday- As I said earlier, I am hoping that by the time this post goes up, I will have gone for a run and maybe have done some strength stuff.
  • Tuesday- I will be in Toronto, Canada, but hope to get a workout in before work. I think it’s going to be a very long day, so I know a workout will help mentally, more than anything. If we don’t have to be to the client site too early, I’ll go to the hotel gym, but if we have to get there early, I’ll likely do a short workout in my room.
  • Wednesday- Hoping to make it back per my itinerary so I can teach my 6:30 UXF Burn class- I missed them last week!
  • Thursday- Teaching my Thursday double: SHRED followed by Kickboxing. Again, missed these guys last week so I am excited to be back!
  • Friday- I may workout at home, but I may use Friday as a rest day pending on how I feel.
  • Saturday- My friend, Lauren, and I are doing a Color Me Rad run in Brockton on Saturday morning. I’m nervous/excited!
  • Sunday- Again, pending on how my workouts went during the week will determine whether I work out or rest on Sunday.

So, there you have it!

Questions for you: What was your best workout last week? Have you ever done a “Color Run”? Is there anything I should be warned about?