Category: At-home workout

Wednesday Workout: 32 Minute Full Body DB Tabata Workout

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Good morning! I know I keep saying this, but how is it Christmas this weekend?! Time is tight this week, but I wanted to pop in and share a quickie workout I did the other morning before work. During busy seasons, it’s not uncommon for workouts to be the first thing to skip, right? But, it doesn’t have to be if you prioritize it as part of your day’s agenda and focus on shorter, more effective “quickie” workouts, as I like to call them.  For me this week, it meant getting up before work to squeeze in my workout. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again- tabata format is generally my workout format of choice when I’m short on time and want an effective workout.

This one only requires a set of dumbbells, so it’s really easy to do right in the comforts of your own home! I kept the exercises simple, too, so it’s less to think about which is nice if you do it first thing when you’re still half asleep 😉

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The way this works is you’ll do each a & b exercise 4 times within each tabata round. If any of these exercises don’t work for you, feel free to change them up! Please let me know if you have any questions 🙂

Questions for you: Have your workouts changed throughout the holiday season? Do you like to workout at home?

Wednesday Workout: Total Body DB 20 Minute AMRAP

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Good morning! Did you guys see my post from yesterday? Two workouts in one week- lucky you 😉 Today’s workout doesn’t require being outside AND it’s a much shorter time commitment, so if yesterday’s workout wasn’t for you, maybe today’s will be.

With all the teaching I’ve been doing lately, I’ve noticed that my own workouts have fallen a bit by the wayside. Granted, I’m still active and moving pretty much every day, but the consistency and intensity in my own training is just not there right now. Which is OK- I’ll get it back once my schedule slows down a bit.

Since my schedule is so crazy, I find myself having to squeeze my own workouts in, which just means they generally can’t be long. It’s all good, though- once I changed up my training to shorter, more intense HIIT style workouts I noticed my body changed and adapted really well to that style of training.

Today’s workout only takes 20 minutes (25 including a warm up/cool down), so it’s perfect if you’re short on time… something we can probably all relate to as we get into the holiday months, right?! All you need is a set of dumbbells or you can use a kettlebell and you’ll work through the exercises as quickly as possible while still maintaining good form. Rest as needed, but try to rest at the end of each round rather than between exercises.

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Quick note on the exercises: For the squat-> lunge combo, you’ll do a lunge on each leg and then 1 squat- that’s 1 rep. Push-ups can be done on your knees, toes or elevated surface. If jumping isn’t good- just do regular squats. If you don’t have weights, simply change the bent over rows to a prone pull or superman pull.

I hope you’ll try this!

Questions for you: Do you have a busy holiday season coming up? How do you prioritize movement when you’re busy?

5k Walk/Run Bootcamp + Cold Weather Gear to Keep You Warm

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Disclaimer: This post is sponsored by FitFluential LLC on behalf of Mizuno. All opinions are my own. #BreathThermo

Good morning! I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving- and hopefully long weekend, too! Work has been really stressful so it was especially nice to have some time off that I was able to spend with my family/in-laws. Just knowing I didn’t have to wake up early for a long day in the office was really awesome.

What else is really awesome is a package I received from Mizuno as part of their cold weather apparel line. This couldn’t have come at a more perfect time because I was just looking for some cold weather gear to help keep me warm during my outdoor Seaport Sweat series. Although I’m not leading my 5K bootcamp anymore, I was able to test out the Breath Thermo base layer top that they sent me, as well as their Breath Thermo Warmalite glove. Their cold weather apparel is engineered to keep you warm without weighing you down, which is so important because no one wants to add more weight/resistance to themselves when they’re working out, right?! 😉

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In short, I’m loving both of these products. The shirt is fitted, which makes it a great layering piece- perfect for outdoor workouts where you tend to have to shed layers once you get warmed up. I love the color, style and it fits very true to form- the small fits exactly how I like tops like this to fit (I don’t like when workout tops like this are loose and baggy). On top of the fit, the Breath Thermo  technology generates heat and helps keep the body warm when working out in the cold weather, while still allowing for breathability so that you don’t overheat. There is also a reflective trim which was important to me since I was wearing it during runs in the dark- safety is key!

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My hands (and feet) are always cold, so I was really grateful to receive the Breath Thermo Warmalite gloves. Although they are a bit too big (I ordered the wrong size!), they still work perfectly to keep my hands warm and protected from the wind during running. They’re also great for teaching my fighters conditioning class because the ground is really cold when doing burpees or pushups without them 😉 I love that they have the touchscreen forefinger so I can still operate my phone when running/teaching. They also have the Breath Thermo  fleece technology to keep warmth in, and the storage pocket on the top is perfect for holding keys or money or anything else you might need stored while you’re working out outside.

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If you’re looking for some new cold weather apparel for those shoulder months or for layering throughout the colder months, head on over to Mizuno because they have some great products worth checking out. If you came to the blog post just for the workout, here you go 😉 While we did this running, you can also walk the 5K and still do these exercises.

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Big thanks to Mizuno for helping to keep me warm during my outdoor workouts!

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Questions for you: What’s your favorite brand of outdoor workout gear? Do you like to workout outside when it’s cold or do you take it to the gym? 

Wednesday Workout: Italy Workout Series {Part 3: 5 Round Bodyweight Tabata}

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Good morning! It’s hard to believe there was a period of time where I had no workouts to share with you because these days I feel like I have quite a backlog of saved workouts to share with you. Today’s workout is part 3 of my Italy Workout Series, which includes- you guessed it- another 20 minute bodyweight workout. This time I used the Tabata format, which is 20 seconds “on” (this is when you do the exercise move) and 10 seconds “off” (this is when you rest), repeating 8 times for a total of 4 minutes. In a traditional tabata workout you would do the same exercise for all 8 rounds, but I tend to change it up a bit and do 2 or 4 difference exercises for each round, generally complimenting each other. Today’s workout used 2 different exercises per tabata so you’ll do each four times.

I don’t know about you guys, but for me, in a tabata workout, rounds 1-3 or 4 leave me feeling like “I got this, no problem!”, rounds 5 & 6 tend to be “Alright, this is feeling definitely more challenging… and that 10s seems to be going by awfully quickly” and then by rounds 7 & 8 I’m struggling to keep up with the number of reps I could complete in the earlier rounds and barely feel slightly recovered by the end of the 10s rest period…. which is probably why tabatas are such an effective type of training format to throw into the mix!

 

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Quick note: for the “walk out-> pushup-> walk in-> squat, you’ll walk your hands out into a high plank position, do a pushup, then walk them back in and then you’ll do a squat. If you want to intensity this move, you can do a 1 legged walk out and switch sides after each squat.

I set round 1 up to also be the warm up, so you can choose whatever moves you like to do to warm up for this round. Otherwise the moves are a bit lower intensity than I normally do, but again I was on vacation, which means my workouts are less intense by nature, and I was working out on our terrace and didn’t want to disturb neighbors. Regardless, it was a great way to get in a little sweat sesh and perk me up for the day ahead.

In case you missed the other two workouts in this series, here they are:

Italy Workout Series Part 1: Countdown Bodyweight
Italy Workout Series Part 2: 20 Min. Bodyweight AMRAP

Questions for you: What’s the hardest workout format for you? What’s your favorite workout format?

Wednesday Workout: Italy Workout Series {Part 2: 20 Min. Bodyweight AMRAP}

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Good morning! If you remember, last week I introduced part 1 of my Italy Workout Series with a quickie countdown style workout. Today, I’m sharing another quickie workout that I did outside at one of the hotels we stayed at. Our hotel room wasn’t big enough to workout in (plus RM was still sleeping!) and we didn’t have a terrace or balcony so I needed to find a new space. Luckily it was early enough that there were not other guests out and about yet!

While broad jumps by nature require a bit of space, if you don’t have space and want to workout in your hotel room or apartment living room, you can replace the broad jumps with just regular squat jumps. Easy enough!

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Quite notes: for the broad jumps, do 10 out and 10 back and for the plank with knee to chest, do 10 on each side.

This workout left me SO SORE for a few days. My quads were literally screaming at me- broad jumps are no joke, especially if you land in a low squat and really push yourself in the jump part. Combine that with walking lots of hills and stairs and it’s no wonder why I didn’t recover as quickly as I normally do!

But I still thought that this was a really fun, effective, sweaty 20 minute way to start the day- I hope you try it!

Questions for you: What exercise always leaves you sore?