Category: At-home workout

Wednesday Workout: The 1000 Rep Workout

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Good morning! I mentioned on Instagram last week that I had a day where I could’ve easily skipped a workout. It was pouring rain, I was in a training all day at work so I couldn’t go to the gym during my lunch break, I had an eye exam in Boston after work and the traffic getting home was ridiculous. All of which could be very valid excuses for me to have skipped the workout. But the thing was, I didn’t WANT to skip the workout. While I was driving home, I had an internal conversation with myself trying to figure out what I should do. I was looking for ways to talk myself out of the workout since I rarely ever do that, but all the signs pointed to me doing the workout:

  • I wasn’t tired
  • I wasn’t sore
  • It wasn’t too late
  • I could do it at-home
  • I had eaten lots of carbs that day so I felt like I had loads of energy to burn
  • I genuinely WANTED to workout

So, what did I do? I worked out! But to save time, I decided to just workout at home rather than go to the gym and fighting the 6:30pm crowds where I knew I would get annoyed and frusterated and end up wasting more time just walking around trying to find a spot to workout and equipment to use that wouldn’t be in the midst of all the chaos.

The upside of being stuck in traffic was that not only did I have time to go through the mental checklist for deciding whether or not to workout, but I also had time to plan the workout in my head! I don’t know what made me think of doing a workout like this, but it ended up being a really good one- and, with 10 exercises in the mix, it helped keep things interesting and helped keep me from totally dreading all the reps!
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Wednesday Workout: Three Snow Day 10 Minute AMRAP Circuits

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Hi guys! Guess who finally has a workout for you?! And actually, I kind of have THREE workouts for you, depending on how you decide to do them.

While I was stuck inside on Monday (I love when my WFH days coincide with winter storm days), I came up with a new workout to test out before sharing with you. I knew I wanted to do a little bit of everything, so I decided to break the workout up into three sections: cardio, strength, core. Each portion of the workout was a 10 minute AMRAP (As Many Rounds as Possible) circuit with 4 exercises in each circuit. I don’t know if it was because I was home by myself (always have less motivation to push myself!) or because I was feeling stuffy, but the workout was hard- I think you’ll like it!

The beauty of the design here is that pending on how much time you have, you can decided to do 1 AMRAP circuit, 2 or all 3. It can totally be a pick and choose type of thing based on what you want to accomplish for the day.

3 snow day amrap circuits
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Wednesday Workout: Bodyweight Workout Finisher

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Hello! Hope you guys are all hanging in there with these super cold temps this week! I’m popping in quickly today to share a little bodyweight workout finisher that I did the other day after I finished my treadmill run. On days I run, I typically just do some stretching and light bodyweight/core exercises. I save my weight lifting for the other days where I am not spending 30+ minutes doing cardio. If I combined running and weights I would be at the gym for an hour+, and as they say: ain’t nobody got time for that!

Last week I shared this quickie finisher and today I have another one for you. What I love about “finisher” circuits/workouts is that they are great as just that- a finisher, but they are also great if you make them as your whole workout by adding in more rounds. I did 3 rounds of this after a 4-miler on Monday, but if I was looking for a quickie workout while I was traveling or short on time, I could totally just add a few more rounds or make it an AMRAP style workout.

Bodyweight Workout Finisher

  • Squat & Knee lift X10 (5 each leg)-  With your hands behind your head and your elbows wide,  perform a squat. When you come back up to standing, engage your core and lift your right knee and cross it over your body to meet your left elbow. Perform another squat and then lift your left knee over to your right elbow. Each knee should come up 5 times (you’re doing a total of 10 squats).
  • Hand release push-ups- Start in a high plank position, either your knees or on your toes. Slowly lower yourself to the ground, keeping your body flat like a board and making sure to not drop your knees or hips before your chest. In the same plane/board-like motion, press into your hands and push yourself up in one motion, again making sure your chest isn’t coming up before your hips- everything should go up and come down together.
  • Hip lifts/bridge- On your back with your knees bent and feet flat on the ground, engage your core and press your heels into the ground as you lift your hips, making sure to squeeze your glutes! Lower back down and repeat.
  • Full sit-ups- Staying in that same supine position, place your arms along your side and exhale as you perform a full sit-up, reaching your hands to your feet.
  • Plank hold- Flip back over and hold a plank for 15 seconds the first round, 30 seconds the second round, 45 seconds the third round, etc… adding 15 second to the plank hold each round. You can either do the plank with straight arms or on your forearms and you can do them on your knees or toes.

As always, let me know if you try adding this to the end of your workout!

Questions for you: Do you keep your cardio and weights on separate days if you aren’t doing a metabolic combination workout?

Wednesday Workout: 20 Minute Bodyweight AMRAP {Cardio/Full Body}

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Good morning! It’s been ages since I’ve posted a workout for you, right?! I’m changing that today, though! I love the holidays for an excuse to get off of my regular schedule (eating, drinking, working out, working, etc.), but I have to say that getting back ON schedule is a pretty awesome feeling, too. So, if you’re feeling anything like me and craving a bit of normalcy, then I hope you give this workout a shot- it’s so very normal and classic Monique-like 😉

I did this when I was at home at my parents house a few weeks ago. I wasn’t sure I wanted to workout, so I came up with something that included some of my favorite exercises and told myself that if I didn’t get into it after the first round, I could call it quits. Well, 20 minutes later, I was sweaty and so happy I got in a quickie workout. I’m sure you’ll feel the same way!

20 minute bodyweight AMRAP workout

A few explanations/videos in case you need a little clarification on anything…

  • Narrow & wide squat jumps– you’re taking a standard squat jump, but adding a little intensity. Check out this video for a demo.
  • Inch worm push-up w/knee tuck– I posted this on Instagram a few weeks ago- check it out here
  • Cursty lunges- alternate right to left, making sure you keep your hips facing the front direction and that your knees don’t go over your toes.
  • T-raise side planks- I posted this on Instagram a few weeks ago, too! I used a band, but you could easily do it without.  Check it out here
  • Burpee Jacks- Perform a standard burpee (with or without the push-up) and then when you come back up instead of jumping, do a full jumping jack.
  • Supine Extension- Lying on your back with your core engaged, lift your legs and shoulder blades off the ground and then crunch up and then extend back out.

If you have any other questions, don’t hesitate to reach out to me. I hope you give this a shot- it’s perfect for those days/weeks where you don’t have a lot of time to workout.

Questions for you: Did your schedule change at all throughout the holidays? How do you deal with schedule changes?

 

Wednesday Workout: Christmas Themed Edition

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Good morning! Can you believe Christmas is next week?! How the heck did that sneak up so fast? With that in mind, I thought I’d make today’s “Wednesday Workout” a Christmas/holiday theme, similar to what I did for Thanksgiving. A few of you let me know that you tried some of the workouts that I posted, so hopefully some of these will pique your interest, too!

  • First up is the 25 Days of Christmas workout that I posted last year. I decided to teach it last week and was pleasantly surprised by how fun it was! The members said it was hard, too, so there’s your warning 😉

25 Days of Christmas

  • Another fun workout that I put together when I first started teaching is the 12 Days of Fitness workout. It’s Dana’s favorite so I knew I had to share it with you guys!

New 12 days of fitness

Warm Up Your Core

Snowman Building Total Body Workout

Down the Chimney, Up the Chimney Christmas Workout

Thank you to everyone who let me share their holiday/winter themed workouts- I hope you guys find one you like and want to try try:)

Questions for you: Do you like themed workouts? Have your workouts had to suffer at all because of holiday craziness? Do you wish we New Englanders had snow?